At the Women's Curling World Championship, Japan beat New Zealand 7-5 in the final game of the qualifying round to improve their head-to-head record to 7-5 and qualify for the play-offs for the top six teams.
The Women's Curling World Championship in Sweden will feature 13 participating teams in a round-robin format, with the top six advancing to the playoffs.
On the 6th, Japan won the 24th match of the qualifying round to improve their head-to-head record to 11-6, and in the final match they faced New Zealand, who are making their first appearance at the World Championship and have yet to win so far.
In a game where winning is essential to qualify for the playoffs, the Japan took a one-goal lead in the first end, but then they tied each other and ended the fifth end with a 5-1 tie.
In the sixth end of the second half, Japan skipper Satsuki Fujisawa threw an accurate draw shot with the last shot to flick off the opponent's number one stone, scoring four points in one fell swoop.
They continued to outplay their opponents in shot accuracy and took a two-point lead midway through the 1th and final end Japan, giving New Zealand a 3-3 victory as New Zealand conceded defeat.
In the preliminary round, Japan were forced to go 5-6 at one point, but after four consecutive wins, they finished with a 4-2 record and qualified for the playoffs.
Skip Satsuki Fujisawa Playoffs "With a New Feeling"
"We made a lot of mistakes in the first half of the qualifiers, but we have a tendency to make mistakes, and we are able to cope with the different ice in each match and our performance has improved.
When he was informed during the interview that the team had qualified for the playoffs, he expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming matches, saying, "With a new mindset, no matter what opponent we face, we will focus on ourselves and focus on the ice."