Defending champ Fujisawa off to 2-0 start at Co-op Canadian Open
RED DEER, Alta. — Satsuki Fujisawa and her team from Japan are off to a solid start in their title defence at the Co-op Canadian Open.
Fujisawa picked up a second straight win after defeating Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay 10-5 Wednesday in Draw 7 at Servus Arena.
“To win two in a row we always feel happy,” Team Fujisawa third Chinami Yoshida said. “Of course this season in 2023-24, we’ve had a tough season but we’re always so happy to win, even one win in the Grand Slams. It’ll be hard but we want to go to the final in the Canadian Open.”
Team Fujisawa won the Co-op Canadian Open women’s title last year in Camrose, Alta., and made history by becoming the first Japanese club to capture a Grand Slam of Curling championship.
Red Deer is also a special place for Team Fujisawa as they regularly play in the fall tour event at the curling centre located down the hallway from Servus Arena.
“The Red Deer curling club is our favourite curling club actually,” said Yoshida, whose team won the Red Deer Curling Classic in 2021 and finished runner-up in 2017. “We have been playing there for eight years, I think. Even though we come from Japan, we still feel at home here even (when it’s) minus-30.”
It was deuces wild through the first half of the game until Sturmay pulled ahead 5-4 with a steal in the fifth end.
Fujisawa drew for three points in the sixth and stole three in the seventh after Sturmay rolled through the house on her last.
Sturmay (0-2) received a late invitation to compete in the event after Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini withdrew due to medical reasons.
CO-OP CANADIAN OPEN: SCORES / STANDINGS | DRAW SCHEDULE | BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Elsewhere in Draw 7, Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., and Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni also improved to 2-0 records at the midway mark of pool play.
Einarson downed Scotland’s Team Rebecca Morrison and Tirinzoni beat Team Jolene Campbell of Winnipeg by identical 9-4 scores.
Morrison and Campbell are both at 0-2 and must win out to remain in contention.
Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States made an angle raise to score two points in the eighth end and edge Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones 6-5.
Both clubs hold matching 1-1 records.
UP NEXT
The Co-op Canadian Open continues with Draw 8 at 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. MT.
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 2 p.m. ET / Noon MT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ (Canada) and gsoclive.com (international).
NOTES
The Co-op Canadian Open is the fourth event of the Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening with the best eight teams in both divisions advancing to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, a tiebreaker round will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff berths. … The semifinals are also on tap Saturday with both finals scheduled for Sunday.
