Wikipedia

Yurika Yoshida

Yurika Yoshida (吉田 夕梨花, Yoshida Yurika, born July 7, 1993) is a Japanese curler.[2] She currently plays lead for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Yurika Yoshida
Curler
Born (1993-07-07) July 7, 1993 (age 31)
Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan[1]
Team
Curling clubLoco Solare CC,
Kitami, Japan
SkipSatsuki Fujisawa
ThirdChinami Yoshida
SecondYumi Suzuki
LeadYurika Yoshida
Mixed doubles
partner		Yuta Matsumura
Curling career
Member Association Japan
World Championship
appearances		2 (2016, 2023)
World Mixed Doubles Championship
appearances		1 (2021)
Pacific-Asia Championship
appearances		4 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
Pan Continental Championship
appearances		2 (2022, 2023)
Olympic
appearances		2 (2018, 2022)
Grand Slam victories1 (2023 Canadian Open)
Medal record
Women's Curling
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Beijing Team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Pyeongchang Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Swift Current
Pan Continental Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Calgary
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kelowna
Pacific-Asia Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Almaty
Silver medal – second place 2017 Erina
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gangneung
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Uiseong
Representing Hokkaido
Japan Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2020 Karuizawa
Gold medal – first place 2022 Tokoro
Gold medal – first place 2023 Tokoro
Silver medal – second place 2012 Aomori
Silver medal – second place 2015 Tokoro
Silver medal – second place 2017 Karuizawa
Silver medal – second place 2019 Sapporo
Silver medal – second place 2021 Wakkanai
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Moseushi
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Nayoro
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Karuizawa

Career

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Yoshida was a member of a team, "Tokoro Junior High school Robins", with Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, and Kaho Onodera. They were the Hokkaido representative at the Japan Curling Championships, where they ranked third in both 2006[3] and 2007.[4]

Yoshida and teammates Mari Motohashi and Yumi Suzuki added former skip Chinami Yoshida to their team at third for the 2014–15 season. With the team, she won her first World Curling Tour title at the 2014 Avonair Cash Spiel. Later that season, at the national championships, they lost the final against the Ogasawara rink to miss a berth to the world championships.

In May 2015, the Motohashi rink added Satsuki Fujisawa, a four-time Japanese champion skip. Motohashi moved from skip to alternate because of her pregnancy, and Fujisawa took over the rink of third Chinami Yoshida, second Yumi Suzuki, and led Yurika Yoshida. During the 2015-16 season, her team of Satsuki Fujisawa, Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, and Mari Motohashi had success internationally as Japan's national team, winning gold at the 2015 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships and a silver at the 2016 World Women's Curling Championship, which was Japan's first-ever world championship medal.[5][6] Meanwhile, domestically, Yoshida with the team won her first national championship title at the 2016 Japan Curling Championships. The team would win a bronze medal at the 2016 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships and a silver at the 2017 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. They also won a bronze medal at the 2017 Asian Winter Games.

Yoshida was part of the Japanese team that won the 2018 Olympics women curling bronze medal.[7]

Yoshida again represented Japan at the 2018 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. Her team went an undefeated 6–0 record in the round robin but lost to the Koreans (skipped by Kim Min-ji) in the final. The next month, she represented Japan in the second leg of the 2018–19 Curling World Cup in Omaha, United States, which her team would end up winning, this time defeating Kim and her South Korean rink in the final.[8]

Team Fujisawa began the 2019–20 season at the 2019 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic, where they lost in the final to Jiang Yilun. Next, they won the ADVICS Cup. They had two more playoff appearances at their next two events, the Booster Juice Shoot-Out and the 2019 Colonial Square Ladies Classic, where they had semifinal and quarterfinal finishes, respectively. Next, they had a semifinal finish at the 2019 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic. In Grand Slam play, they made the quarterfinals at the Masters and the semifinals of the Tour Challenge, National and Canadian Open. They had two more playoff appearances on tour at the Red Deer Curling Classic, where they lost in the quarterfinals, and the Karuizawa International, where they lost the final to Anna Sidorova. For the first time in four seasons, Team Fujisawa won the Japan Curling Championships, defeating Seina Nakajima in the final. The team was set to represent Japan at the 2020 World Women's Curling Championship before the event got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10] The Japanese Championship would be their last event of the season as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were also cancelled due to the pandemic.[11]

Team Fujisawa played in no World Curling Tour events during the abbreviated 2020–21 season as there were no events held in Japan or Asia.[12] The team would compete in the 2021 Japan Curling Championships, held from February 8 to 14, 2021 in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, as the defending champions.[13] After an unblemished 6–0 round robin record, the team defeated Team Sayaka Yoshimura of Hokkaido Bank to advance to the final where they would once again face Yoshimura.[14] Down one in the tenth, Team Yoshimura scored two points to win the national championship 7–6 over Team Fujisawa.[15] This meant that once again, the team would not get to represent Japan at the World Championships. Team Fujisawa ended their season at the 2021 Champions Cup and 2021 Players' Championship Grand Slam events, which were played in a "curling bubble" in Calgary, Alberta, with no spectators, to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.[16] The team had quarterfinal finishes at both events, losing out to Rachel Homan at the Champions Cup and Anna Hasselborg at the Players'.[17][18]

In their first event of the 2021–22 season, Team Fujisawa finished runner-up at the 2021 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic. They then played in the 2021 Japanese Olympic Curling Trials, which were held in a best-of-five contest between the Fujisawa and Sayaka Yoshimura rinks.[19] After losing the first two games, Team Fujisawa rattled off three straight victories to win the trials and earn the right to represent Japan at the 2021 Olympic Qualification Event. There, the team finished third in the round robin and then defeated South Korea to secure their spot in the 2022 Winter Olympics.[20] At the Games, Team Fujisawa led Japan to a 5–4 round robin record, enough to qualify as the fourth seeds in the playoff round. They then defeated the number one seeds in Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni to advance to the Olympic final, where they would face Great Britain's Eve Muirhead.[21] The team could not keep their momentum going in the final, however, dropping the match 10–3, earning the silver medal.[22] Elsewhere on tour for the season, Team Fujisawa lost in the final of the 2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic after a previously undefeated record. In November, they went undefeated to claim the Red Deer Curling Classic.[23] In Grand Slam play, they only qualified in one of three events they played in, the 2022 Players' Championship, where they reached the quarterfinals. The team wrapped up their season at the 2022 Japan Curling Championships. There, they went 7–1 through the round robin and won the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game over Hokkaido Bank. They then defeated the Ikue Kitazawa's Chubu Electric Power team 7–3 in the final to claim the national title.[24]

The Fujisawa rink won their second event of the 2022–23 season, going undefeated to win the Advics Cup.[25] At the 2022 National, the team went undefeated until the semifinals where they were stopped by Kerri Einarson 8–5.[26] They also lost to Team Einarson at the next Slam, 6–5 in a tiebreaker. Because they won the 2022 national championship, Team Fujisawa represented Japan at the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships where they finished third in the round robin with a 6–2 record.[27] They then beat Canada's Einarson in the semifinal before defeating Korea's Ha Seung-youn 8–6 in the championship game.[28] The team again missed the playoffs at the 2022 Masters after a 1–3 record.[29] In the new year, the team was the first qualifier at the 2023 Canadian Open, winning all three of their pre-qualifying matches. They then won 8–7 over Anna Hasselborg in the quarterfinals and 7–6 over Gim Eun-ji in the semifinals to reach their first Slam final. There, they became the first Asian team to win a Slam, excluding defunct events, with a 5–3 win over Team Einarson.[30] Team Fujisawa won their second straight national title at the 2023 Japan Curling Championships, defeating SC Karuizawa Club's Asuka Kanai 7–5 in the final.[31] This qualified them for the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship where they qualified for the playoffs with a 7–5 record.[32] They were then eliminated by Canada 6–4 in the qualification round.[33] They finished their season with a quarterfinal appearance at the 2023 Players' Championship and a semifinal appearance at the 2023 Champions Cup, losing out to the Einarson rink at both events.[34]

For a second year in a row, Team Fujisawa won the Advics Cup to begin their season, going undefeated to claim the title.[35] Because they defended their title at the national championship, they again represented Japan at the 2023 Pan Continental Curling Championships, this year finishing second through the round robin with a 6–1 record. In the semifinal, they stole the win against the United States' Tabitha Peterson before coming up short against Korea's Gim Eun-ji in the final, settling for silver.[36] In December, the team went undefeated at the 2023 Western Showdown until the semifinal where they lost 6–2 to Jolene Campbell. In the new year, they could not defend their national title, failing to reach the playoff round of the 2024 Japan Curling Championships.[37] They bounced back with a strong run at the Sun City Cup before losing the final to Isabella Wranå.[38] In Grand Slam play, the team only qualified in one of five events during the 2023–24 season, losing in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Canadian Open to Team Einarson.[39]

Personal life

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Yoshida is an office worker at the Kitami Dermatology Clinic. She currently lives in Tokoro.[40] She is the sister of curler Chinami Yoshida.[1]

Teams

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Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Events
2011–12[41] Mari Motohashi Megumi Mabuchi Yumi Suzuki Akane Eda Yurika Yoshida
2012–13 Mari Motohashi Yurika Yoshida Megumi Mabuchi Yumi Suzuki
2013–14 Mari Motohashi Yurika Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Megumi Mabuchi
2014–15 Mari Motohashi Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Megumi Mabuchi
2015–16 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Mari Motohashi PACC 2015, WWCC 2016
2016–17 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Mari Motohashi PACC 2016, AWG 2017
2017–18 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Mari Motohashi JOCT 2017, PACC 2017, 2018 OG
2018–19 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Kotomi Ishizaki CWC,[42] PACC 2018[43]
2019–20 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida
2020–21 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida
2021–22 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Kotomi Ishizaki OQE 2021, 2022 OG
2022–23 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Kotomi Ishizaki PCCC 2022, WWCC 2023
2023–24 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida Kotomi Ishizaki PCCC 2023
2024–25 Satsuki Fujisawa Chinami Yoshida Yumi Suzuki Yurika Yoshida

References

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  1. ^ a b "2020 World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "Profile:Japan" (PDF). Eye Opener. World Women's Curling Swift Current 2016. No. 2. Curling Canada. 2016. p. 15. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  3. ^ "Japan Curling Championship 2006" (in Japanese). Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "Japan Curling Championship 2007" (in Japanese). Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  5. ^ "Ford World Women's Curling Championship Gold for Switzerland". World Curling Federation. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  6. ^ "Ford World Women's Curling Championship 2016 Teams". World Curling Federation. January 8, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  7. ^ Keating, Steve (February 24, 2018), "Curling: Japan win bronze to claim first Olympic medal", Reuters
  8. ^ "Japan clinch women's final after last-stone dram". Curling World Cup. December 9, 2018. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  9. ^ The Canadian Press (March 12, 2020). "World Women's Curling Championship Cancelled". The Sports Network. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  10. ^ "World Women's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Prince George, Canada". World Curling Federation. March 12, 2020. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  11. ^ "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  12. ^ "2020–21 World Curling Tour: Women's Schedule". World Curling Tour. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  13. ^ "市川美余さん 知っておきたいカーリング女子4強解説！ 日本選手権に向けて (Miyo Ichikawa Curling Girls 4 Strong Commentary You Want To Know! Ahead of the Japan Championship)" (in Japanese). NHK Sports. February 7, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Fujisawa Runner-Up at 2021 Japan Curling Championships". CurlingZone. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  15. ^ "カーリング日本選手権 女子 北海道銀行が6年ぶり2回目の優勝 (Curling Japan Championship Women's Hokkaido Bank wins for the second time in six years)" (in Japanese). NHK. February 14, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  16. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (April 12, 2021). "Humpty's Champions Cup start moved to Thursday". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  17. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (April 18, 2021). "Koe clips Jacobs to jump into Humpty's Champions Cup semis". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  18. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (April 24, 2021). "Gushue eliminates Edin to reach Players' Championship semis". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  19. ^ "Zen-Noh Women's Curling Japan Tournament". Japan Curling Association (in Japanese). Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  20. ^ "Japan women qualify for Beijing 2022". World Curling Federation. December 17, 2021. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  21. ^ "Japan and Great Britain advance to the women's Olympic final". World Curling Federation. February 18, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  22. ^ "Twenty years in the making, Great Britain wins gold in women's curling". CNN News. February 19, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  23. ^ "2021 Vesta Energy Curling Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  24. ^ "15-Year-Old Wins Japanese Curling Title". Sports Illustrated. The Curling News. May 29, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  25. ^ "2022 ADVICS Cup". CurlingZone. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  26. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (October 8, 2022). "Gushue meets Edin, Einarson takes on Tirinzoni in Boost National finals". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  27. ^ "Women's round-robins draw to a close". World Curling Federation. November 5, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  28. ^ "Japan women claim first Pan Continental title". World Curling Federation. November 7, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  29. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (December 9, 2022). "Team Jones edge Team Lawes to slide into WFG Masters playoffs". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  30. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (January 15, 2023). "Fujisawa wins Co-op Canadian Open to become first GSOC champion from Asia". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  31. ^ "Zen-Noh Japan Curling Championships 2023". Japan Curling Association (in Japanese). Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  32. ^ "Live Blog: Day seven at the WWCC". World Curling Federation. March 24, 2023. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  33. ^ "Semi-finals set at World Women's". World Curling Federation. March 25, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  34. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (May 7, 2023). "Einarson faces Homan in KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup women's final". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  35. ^ "Fujisawa undefeated en route to third Advics Cup title". CurlingZone. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  36. ^ "Korea women win Pan Continental Curling Championship". World Curling Federation. November 4, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  37. ^ "New Curling Champions in Japan". Sports Illustrated. The Curling News. February 4, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  38. ^ "2024 Sun City Cup". CurlingZone. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  39. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (January 20, 2024). "Jones, Homan face again in semifinals at Co-op Canadian Open". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  40. ^ 2018 Continental Cup Media Guide
  41. ^ "Yurika Yoshida past teams". Curling Zone. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  42. ^ "Teams, First Leg - Suzhou, China Events". Curling World Cup. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  43. ^ "Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2018 - Teams". World Curling Federation. January 8, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
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