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Then the matching of the 1st round was announced.
When the board with the matching appeared, all the professionals went to look at it. |
[A] Ayumi SUZUKI 3-dan / U CHO Meijin / Oza / Gosei pair vs Yumiko OKADA 6-dan / Kimio YAMADA 9-dan pair
[B] Akino IZAWA 3-dan / Rissei O 9-dan pair vs Imin SHEI 3-dan / Satoru KOBAYASHI 9-dan pair
[C] Tomoko OGAWA 6-dan / Koichi KOBAYASHI 9-dan pair vs Kikuyo AOKI Women's Meijin / Masaki TAKEMIYA 9-dan pair
[D] Mika YOSHIDA 8-dan / Shinji TAKAO Honinbo pair vs Yoko INORI 5-dan / Toshiya IMAMURA 9-dan pair
[E] Izumi KOBAYASHI Women's Saikyo / Chikun CHO judan pair vs Terumi KOYAMA 5-dan / Meien O 9-dan pair
[F] Yukari UMEZAWA 5-dan / Rin KONO Tengen pair vs Keiko KATO 5-dan / Norimoto YODA 9-dan pair
[G] Kazuko KONISHI 8-dan / Yoshio ISHIDA 9-dan pair vs Narumi OSAWA 3-dan / Naoki HANE 9-dan pair
[H] Kana MANNAMI Women's Kisei / Keigo YAMASHITA Kisei pair vs Kumiko YASHIRO Women's Honinbo / Satoshi YUKI 9-dan pair |
After looking at the board, it was a time to guess the winner.
At first, Hideo Otake Honorary Gosei, the chief judge of this tournament, guessed. |
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Otake Honorary Gosei said, “My first impression is Yamashita and Mannami pair. Satoru Kobayashi and Shei pair is quite powerful, too.” And he took a breath and said, “But who I really want the winner to be is the `old men’ pair. I mean Ishida and Koichi Kobayashi.” He made his younger disciples `old men’. “If so, that will make the world peaceful.” He made the audience laugh. He added, “Yukari Umezawa 5-dan and Rin Kono Tengen pair and Yoko Inori 5-dan and Toshiya Imamura 9-dan pair are dark horses. U Cho kun is busy. So, Izumi (U Cho Meijin’s wife) and Chikun pair will not do well.” |
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Next was Yoshio Ishida 9-dan’s guessing with sharp comments. It is also what the audience looks forward to.
Ishida 9-dan said, “A pair of Shei san and Satoru san seems close to being a winner. Izawa san (opponent of Shei and Satoru pair), you are here today so I didn’t want to say. (Akino Izawa 3-dan and others laughed.) The game of Yoshida and Takao pair against Inori and Imamura pair will be a good game because Takao san and Inori san are in good condition. The pair of Chikun san will not do well at all.” This is the same as Otake Honorary Gosei’s comment, to Cho 10-dan, their younger disciple, because he was absent. Of course, both of them don’t mean it. |
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He continued, “At the game of Umezawa and Kono pair against Kato and Yoda pair, I think Kato san will be wearing a kimono. Oh, if Kono kun wear kimono, too, he seems strong.” He was guessing the winner by the outfit. And of course, he concluded with a comment of the game of Konishi and Ishida pair against Osawa and Hane pair, “Hane san seems to be losing, so the winner is already decided.” |
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| The microphone was handed to one more person, Masaki Takemiya 9-dan. He said seriously, full of energy, “I will be a pair with Aoki san for the first time but I think we have the same style.” Then he criticized the comment of Ishida 9-dan and said, “The pair of Hane san is strong, isn’t it? They came all the way from Nagoya for this. Izumi and Chikun pair, too, is strong.” |
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The place was surrounded by laughter and then the comments to guess the winner were finished.
I could hear Ogawa and Koichi Kobayashi pair who sat next to each other discussing strategy. |
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Ogawa 6-dan said, “How?”
Kobayashi 9-dan said, “Once we put down a few stones, you will know the atmosphere.”
Unfortunately, they were talking quietly so I only heard the above conversation but I could tell that they were spirited.
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The new participant, Shei 3-dan, whom everyone thinks is a prospective winner, said, “I feel pressure. I played Pair Go at a training camp in Korea but I lost because of my own fault. But I have never played with Satoru sensei, but I am relieved that he seems to forgive me if I make any mistakes.’ She smiled. |
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Please take a look at the list of the 1st round again. We cannot miss any of those games which seem to be good games.
I wonder which 8 pairs will go to the 2nd round. The 1st and 2nd round will be held on Saturday, the 2nd of December at Ebisu, The Garden Hall, from 11am. |
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