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| ＜ Ricoh Cup The 3rd Game and The Semifinal ＞ |
| The quarterfinal and the semifinal, 6 games altogether, of the Ricoh Cup Professional Pair Go Championship, the dream event in the Go world, which has started on the 6th of December, was held a week later, on the 13th of December. On this day, too, it was prosperous that there was a long queue of over 100 people before the door opened. The venue, Ebisu the Garden Hall, in Tokyo, was surrounded by the heat of over 1000 people. Of course, there were fierce games after fierce games. This time, too, I would like to tell you about the games with the expression of the professionals in their waiting room. |
| On the 2nd day of the championship, there was a plan in which 3 groups of "father or mother and a child reporter" who were chosen from the homepage did interviews with the participating professionals. This year, too, those children's eyes were sparkling when they met and asked questions directly and shook hands with their favorite professionals. To find out what kind of interviews they did, please check "the father or mother and a child report" page. In this report, I would like to tell you the enthusiastic interviews which made the professionals surprised. |
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Sayuri Sato (1st grade at primary school) with her father, Shigeharu, a pair from Kanagawa prefecture, said, "Two of us thought of what to ask together." and she read it out in lively manner from a piece of paper on which she wrote the questions. She asked, "What type of personality do you think you have? And your personality helps in Go in what way?" |
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| Naoki Hane Honinbo answered, "I have a forgetful personality. Even though I lose games, I forget about it quickly and start the next thing. That is the right personality to be a professional." |
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| Shinji Takao Judan answered, "I am easy going and I go with my own pace. That is not the right personality to be a professional. But that's my personality, I can't do anything." Yuta Iyama 8dan answered, "All the professionals are the same but I have a competitive spirit. Recently, I became a little more matured (laughed). In this world, either win or lose, so it is good for me." |
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| Suzuki 4dan who was asked a question, what the ambition is, answered, "I want to be strong in Go but I'd rather want to live as a proper person. Not to leave the path of virtue." To this answer, all the professionals laughed a lot. Ayumi 4dan said, "What? Why are you all laughing so much? Was it funny?" |
Shintaro Aiya (2nd grade, primary school) with his mother, Emi, also came from Kanagawa. Shintaro started learning Go from last year and in 1 year, his Go strength is 4 kyu. He said in lively way, "I love Go. The part I like is when I thought I would lose, the opponent makes mistakes and the situation changes quickly." He said, "My favorite professional is Chikun Cho sensei! I am sorry that I wasn't able to meet him today but I was nervous that I met so many professionals whom I can only watch on TV."
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| His question was, "What is good about having a professional in your family? And what is bad about it?" Yumiko Okada 6dan answered, "The good part is that my husband (Shinichiro Okada 8dan) does not have to go to work every day so we can look after our child together. The bad part is that we spend a lot of time together so we fight a lot (laugh)." Terumi Koyama 5dan who was listening added, "Please take it as useful information for your future." |
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One more couple, Chiho Takahashi (3rd grade, primary school) with her father, Kazuaki, came far from Akita prefecture. Chiho started learning Go from her father since she was 4 years old and now, her strength is 7kyu. She told me, "I like Michael Redmond sensei who came all the way to Akita to teach and Yukari Umezawa sensei. After she shook hands with Umezawa Women's Kisei, she said turning red, "I was nervous!" |
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| Now, while the waiting room was lively with the interviews of the parent and child reporters, the time to start the game was getting closer. Last week, at the 1st day of the championship, Iyama 8dan who was told by Umezawa Women's Kisei, "You look nice today." was spirited with his perfect hair style. This time, Mika Yoshida 8dan said to him, "Iyama san, today's hair style makes you look like you're ready to play." Rin Kono 9dan also said to him, "Yes, this part (pointing out the front of his hair) is standing up." |
The matching of the 4 games of the quarterfinal is as follows. |
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