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FRIDAY Sports Nonfiction》Bronze in Pyeongchang, silver in Beijing for the first time in history. She won the bronze medal in Pyeongchang and the silver medal in Beijing for the first time in history, but at this year's Japan Curling Championships, she failed to win her third straight title and unexpectedly finished fourth...
It was an unexpected defeat.
Rocco Solare, winners of two consecutive titles, unexpectedly finished fourth in the women’s Japan Curling Championships held from January 27 to February 4.
Should we consider this anomalous situation, in which a powerhouse team that won a bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2006 and a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2010 failed to advance to the final tournament, as an indication that the level of the Japanese curling world has improved, or as Roco Solare’s failure to be careful? Soichiro Takeda, a sportswriter who has been covering curling for many years, offers his analysis.
In the past few years, Loco Solare has often participated in international competitions and has not competed much at home, especially this season. Especially this season, they played only one domestic tournament. The SC Karuizawa Club, which won the championship, has a new structure, with a new player, Yui Ueno (Yui), 21, joining the team this year. The members of Rocco Solare tend to have a hard time against first-time opponents, so it is undeniable that this may have led to a disappointing result.
