On the 14th, the 11th day of the Beijing Olympics, China played against Japan in the curling women's qualifying league, and curling was once transmitted from Japan, and since then it has improved its competitiveness under the guidance of the Japanese side.
The people who supported the curling era of both countries stared at the match with special feelings.
China is a strong player who is close to Japan in 7th place, 9th in the world ranking of curling girls, and this tournament beats Sweden, which Japan lost in the first match.
Mr. Zhang, who led the first Asian bronze medal as the general manager of the Chinese curling team at the 2010 Vancouver Tournament, points out that there is exchange with Japan behind the improvement of China's competitiveness.
Curling was first introduced to China in 1995, before the official Olympic Games, in a class held by Hokkaido leaders in Heilongjiang Province in the northeastern part of the country.
Mr. Zhang, who learned the basics of the competition at this class and received advice every time he went to Japan, became a leader himself after that, and two Chinese female athletes participating in this tournament are said to be students. That is.
And it was Mr. Isamu Ota of Sapporo City who was working on the spread of curling in Hokkaido at that time who planned this workshop.
Heilongjiang Province, which has a friendly tie-up with Hokkaido, was asked to hold a seminar to spread curling in Asia and make it an official Olympic sport. A letter was given.
In the match on the 15th, China took the lead in the 2nd end, but in the 3rd end, Japan made a "big end" to score 3 points and turned around, and after that, proceeded to dominate with accurate shots. I won 10 to 2.
Mr. Zhang, who watched the game at the venue as a commentator for the online broadcast, said, "I expected a close game, but Japan was always taking good shots that put pressure on me, so China was not allowed to play the basics. Curling is a sport where experience is important, and Japan had one or two copies. "
In addition, Mr. Ota, who watched the game at home, said, "I made China throw such a painful shot, the match of Japan was perfect. China was disappointed, but I have defeated the strong players so far, so I want you to rebuild it." I was talking.
On top of that, he said, "I would be very happy if the former dissemination activities have paid off and have led to multiple Asian teams participating in the Olympics. I hope Japan and China will do their best to play again in the final." I was hoping that the team would work hard and improve each other.