Karuizawa International Curling Championships | |
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Organizer | Sports Community Karuizawa Club |
Established | 1999 |
Host city | Karuizawa, Japan |
Arena | Karuizawa Ice Park |
Website | karuizawa-icurling |
Men's purse | ¥ 1,500,000 |
Women's purse | ¥ 1,500,000 |
Current champions (2023) | |
Men | Brad Gushue |
Women | Ikue Kitazawa |
Current edition | |
The Karuizawa International Curling Championships is a curling bonspiel held annually since the Olympic Games in Nagano at the SCAP Karuizawa Arena in Kariuzawa, Japan. The bonspiel is held to commemorate the curling event at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, the first official curling event in the Olympic programme since the 1924 Winter Olympics. It is also held to help promote curling throughout Japan. [1] The event became a World Curling Tour event in 2014.
A total of 24 teams (12 men's and 12 women's teams) are invited each year to participate in the championship. The teams play a two-pool round robin tournament with games of eight ends, and the top six teams of each gender play eight-end games in the final round. [1]
Prior to 2013, a total of 16 teams (8 men's and 8 women's teams) were invited each year to participate in the championship. Five teams of each gender were chosen from foreign nations based on performances at the most recent World Curling Championships, while three teams were chosen from within Japan. The teams were chosen as follows:
Men's | Women's |
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5 Foreign Teams | |
Japan National Team | |
Japan Selection Team [lower-alpha 1] | |
Nagano Selection Team [lower-alpha 1] |
The eight teams of each gender played a round robin tournament with games of eight ends, and the top four teams of each gender played ten-end games in the final round.
Year | Men's winner | Women's winner |
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1999 | Bob Turcotte | Cathy Borst |
2000 | Makoto Tsuruga | Sherry Fraser |
2001 | Markku Uusipaavalniemi | Nancy Smith |
2002 | Greg Monkman | Margaretha Lindahl |
2003 | Paul Pustovar | Manuela Kormann |
2004 | Brian Gessner | Cheryl Bernard |
2005 | Pat Simmons | Moe Meguro |
2006 | Ryan Fry | Crystal Rumberg |
2007 | Craig Disher | Jo-Ann Rizzo |
2008 | Joel Jordison | Yukako Tsuchiya |
2009 | Bob Ursel | Manuela Kormann |
Anna Ohmiya is a Japanese curler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She is the second on the FORTIUS curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2015 and 2021. She also won the national championship in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as a member of Team Aomori. She competed for Japan at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, placing eighth. At the international level, she has represented Japan at four World Women's Curling Championship and six Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2021, winning the gold medal in 2021.
The 2011 Karuizawa International Curling Championship was held from January 26-30 at the SCAP Karuizawa Arena in Karuizawa, Japan. The bonspiel featured eight men's and women's teams playing in a round robin format. The top four teams of each gender played in a single-elimination round to determine the winners.
Kim Eun-jung, nicknamed "Annie" is a South Korean curler from Uiseong. She currently skips her own team on the World Curling Tour. Kim skipped the national team from 2016 to 2018 and represented Korea on home ice at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where her team won a silver medal.
Satsuki Fujisawa is a Japanese curler from Kitami, Hokkaido. As a skip, she has won the Japanese national championship six times. Fujisawa skipped the bronze medal-winning Japanese team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the silver medal-winning team at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She is currently the skip of the Loco Solare curling team.
Kaho Onodera is a Japanese curler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She is the second on the FORTIUS curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2015 and 2021. At the international level, she has represented Japan at three World Women's Curling Championship and three Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in 2013, 2014 and 2021, winning the gold medal in 2021.
Chinami Yoshida is a Japanese curler. She currently plays third for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Sayaka Yoshimura is a Japanese curler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She is the skip of the FORTIUS curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2015 and 2021. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's Curling Championship and two Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in 2014 and 2021, winning the gold medal in 2021.
Galina Petrovna Arsenkina is a retired Russian curler from Moscow. She competed at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics as the second on the Olympic Athletes from Russia and Russian Olympic Committee women's curling teams, skipped by Victoria Moiseeva and Alina Kovaleva respectively. She has won two medals at the World Women's Curling Championship: a bronze in 2018 and a silver in 2021. She was also the second on Team Moiseeva when they won the 2016 European Curling Championships.
Kim Seon-yeong, nicknamed "Sunny" is a South Korean curler. She was the second, but now plays lead on Team Kim Eun-jung. The Kim team represented South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where they won a silver medal.
Kim Yeong-mi, nicknamed "Pancake" is a South Korean curler. She was the lead, but now is the alternate on Team Kim Eun-jung. The Kim team represented South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where they won a silver medal.
Kim Cho-hi, nicknamed Chocho is a South Korean curler from Uijeongbu. She was the alternate, but now plays second for Team Kim Eun-jung. The Kim team represented South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where they won a silver medal.
Yulia Alexandrova Portunova is a Russian curler from Kaliningrad. She currently plays third on Team Alina Kovaleva. She competed at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics as the alternate on Olympic Athletes from Russia and the third on the Russian Olympic Committee women's curling teams, skipped by Victoria Moiseeva and Alina Kovaleva respectively. She has won two medals at the World Women's Curling Championship: a bronze in 2018 and silver in 2021. She was also the alternate for the Moiseeva rink when they won the 2016 European Curling Championships.
Chiaki Matsumura is a Japanese curler from Nagano. She was a longtime member of the Chubu Electric Power curling team from 2012 to 2023. With the team, she won five Japan Curling Championships in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2019. At the international level, she has represented Japan three times at the World Women's Curling Championship and three times at the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, winning a silver medal in both 2012 and 2019.
Seina Nakajima is a Japanese curler from Nagano. She is the third on the Chubu Electric Power curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2017 and 2019. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's Curling Championship and the 2019 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, where she won a silver medal.
Ikue Kitazawa is a Japanese curler from Saku, Nagano. She is the skip of the Chubu Electric Power curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2017 and 2019. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's Curling Championship and the 2019 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, where she won a silver medal.
Hasumi Ishigooka is a Japanese curler from Nagano. She is currently the alternate on the Chubu Electric Power curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2017 and 2019. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's Curling Championship and the 2019 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, where she won a silver medal.
Minori Suzuki is a Japanese curler from Karuizawa, Nagano. She is the lead on the Chubu Electric Power curling team, which is skipped by Ikue Kitazawa. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Junior Curling Championships as well as the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship.
Junko Nishimuro is a Japanese curler from Karuizawa, Nagano. She is the second on the SC Karuizawa Club curling team, which is skipped by Asuka Kanai. At the international level, she represented Japan at the 2005 Pacific Curling Championships and the 2006 World Women's Curling Championship as a result of winning the 2005 Japan Curling Championships.
The 2022 Karuizawa International Curling Championships were held from December 16 to 18 at the Karuizawa Ice Park in Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan. The total purse for the event was ¥ 1,500,000 on both the men's and women's sides. It was the first time the event has been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling both the 2020 and 2021 editions.
The 2023 Karuizawa International Curling Championships were held from December 1 to 3 at the Karuizawa Ice Park in Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan. The total purse for the event was ¥ 1,500,000 on both the men's and women's sides.