Japan, who is participating in the men's curling world championship, lost to Sweden in the second round of the qualifying league on March 31st, but won against New Zealand in the third round, earning their first win of the tournament.
The men's curling world championship, held in Switzerland, involves 13 teams competing in a round robin qualifying league, with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs.
On March 31st, Japan first faced Sweden in the second match of the qualifying league.
At the end of the third with the opponents leading 0-2, Japan's Force's Tetsuro Shimizu made a final shot, scoring two points and tying the score.
After that, it was a back-and-forth battle, with each team gaining 3 points each, and in the 8th end, Sweden lost 4 points at once, and Japan conceded defeat at this end, losing 5-9.
In the following match against New Zealand, the opponent's shots continued to make mistakes from the first end, and Japan scored in three consecutive ends to take a 4-0 lead.
In the 6th end with a 5-1 lead, New Zealand made an exquisite shot with 3 stones and lost 2 points, but in the 7th end, it was Japan's force, Shimizu, who was their opponent. New Zealand conceded defeat at the end, scoring three points with a shot that flicked off a stone.
Japan defeated New Zealand 8-3, their first win of the tournament, and brought their total record in the qualifying league to 1 win, 2 losses.
After the match, Shimizu said, ``In the first two games, we were just one step away, but I'm glad we were able to win this game.This one win is a big one, so I want to do my best from here.'' .