< Round 2: Semifinals >

[Black] Ayumi Suzuki 4-dan & Kimio Yamada 9-dan  VS
[White] Akane Ishii 1-dan & Hideyuki Sakai 7-dan

According to 24th Honinbo Shuho, Black had the lead, but the Ishii/Sakai pair ended up winning and qualified for the final. Yamada seemed upset about his loss: ‘You really regret it when you lose in Pair Go. The lead fluctuates more than in one-on-one games. Even if you’re a little behind, you still have a chance. That’s why you regret losing more.’ Having finished early, he said, he had nothing to do. ‘I’m going back to Osaka. When I arrive, it’ll be dinner time, so the timing will be just right.’ He added that he would drown his sorrows in drink with some buddies.

[White] Narumi Osawa 4-dan & Yuta Iyama Meijin  
[Black] Mika Yoshida 8-dan & Iso Ko 7-dan

24th Honinbo Shuho’s judgement was: ‘A tough game for White.’ ‘The way White lost three stones in the bottom left was awful,’ he commented. As he predicted, Yoshida and Ko went on to the final. As Iyama Meijin stood up to leave, he was surrounded by autograph hunters. They had books and fans and coloured paper, and Iyama wrote ‘natural’ on them. Everyone went to take a break, but just one person stayed on and on. This was the new Meijin: his popularity meant that this couldn’t be helped. With each autograph he gave, the number of fans waiting increased, but we were happy to see how politely he responded.

[White] Keiko Kato 6-dan & Naoki Hane Honinbo  VS
[Black] Kikuyo Aoki 8-dan & 25th Honinbo Chikun

Notwithstanding the comment, ‘White’s funny,’ Kato and Hane won. Cho Chikun said: ‘Aoki is the captain and decides when we resign.’ However, we missed the moment of resignation.

[White]Yukari Umezawa, Women’s Kisei & Shinji Takao 9-dan  VS
[Black] Yoko Kuwabara 5-dan & Satoshi Yuki 9-dan

Umezawa played well in the first-round game and seemed to be satisfied. ‘We mesh well,’ she said. ‘We’re aiming at victory.’

< Finals >

A Block
[Black] Akane Ishii 1-dan & Hideyuki Sakai 7-dan  VS
[White] Mika Yoshida 8-dan & Iso Ko 7-dan

Ko 7-dan was surrounded by Kansai players. ‘I never dreamed I’d make the final,’ he said. However, unfortunately his team lost this game and ended up in second place. According to Ishida’s commentary, ‘It’s very close. Both sides are suffering small losses in the endgame.’ Finally, he announced: ‘It’s a win for Black by 2.5 points.’ When Sakai said to Yoshida, ‘White had the lead in the opening,’ Yoshida replied: ‘I thought we were ahead.’ Sakai is seriousness itself; even though his team won, he had regrets. ‘We may have overdone things. Why did the game turn bad so suddenly?’

B Block
[White] Yukari Umezawa, Women’s Kisei & Shinji Takao 9-dan  VS
[Black] Keiko Kato 6-dan & Naoki Hane Honinbo

This is a good pairing. Strong players are, after all, strong at Pair Go. Many spectators gathered around this game. At the public commentary, there were words of praise: ‘Umezawa and Takao are enjoying good form at present.’ In a tough position, Umezawa fought all out, and Ishida joked: ‘Women are frightening.’
The Umezawa/Takao pair won. After the game finished, Umezawa said to Takao: ‘I’m sorry. My opening was awful.’ But Takao took more blame: ‘My two-step hane was terrible.’
As Takao and Hane were creating some nice variations in the game review, Umezawa said to Kato: ‘This won’t happen with us. I don’t understand the meaning.’
Umezawa lamented to Takao: ‘I didn’t know what to do in the opening.’ Takao reviewed the opening and laughed: ‘You looked displeased when I made the diagonal attachment.’
‘What do we do if White attaches here?’ Umezawa asked. Takao replied: ‘If Hane attached there, I wasn’t worried because it wouldn’t be my turn to play.’ This was a hallucination. ‘It’s your turn!’ the other three said, all laughing.

< Awards Ceremony >

Masastake Matsuda, President of the Japan Pair Go Association, presented the victory diplomas to the winning pairs, and Mrs. Hiroko Taki, Director and Secretary General of the Japan Pair Go Association, handed them bouquets.

Akane Ishii 1-dan: 'With this being my debut, I thought I would be doing well if I won one game, so I'm really happy to have won. I've just been on a tour of China with a group of young players; the results of the Japanese team were terrible, so I'd like to take revenge in the Pair Go World Cup.' There was loud applause.

Sakai 7-dan: 'The day before yesterday, I played Takao and lost a game that was a sure win for me because of lack of calmness. It was an absurd upset and I couldn't sleep that night. I realized that, after all, you have to keep calm when you play [laughs]. Today I was able to see the board clearly and play well. I hope I can stay calm when I play in China, too.'

After the speeches, there were interviews.
　Ishii, smiling: 'As much as possible, I tried to leave the difficult points to Sakai.'
Sakai: 'The world's top players will be competing in the world championship, so it will be tough, but it's easier for disturbances to arise with two players than with one, so if we combine well we might have a chance.'
Ishii: 'I played Pair Go a lot in my amateur days, but in a professional tournament you pair with a strong player, so I was tense. In the Pair Go World Cup, my opponents will be fantastic players I'd never have a chance to play by myself, but with Sakai's help we may be able to do something.'

Umezawa: 'I've been playing in the Pair Go tournament ever since I became a professional, but until now second place was my best result. I was thinking that I should be satisfied just to be able to play in the final. After we'd played one game, I thought Takao and I combined well, so my hopes became stronger. Lo and behold, we were able to win [laughs]. I hear there will be special training, so I will study hard and do my best in the Pair Go World Cup.'

Takao: 'I've also won hardly at all in the past. This time I thought I'd be satisfied if I won one game. Usually I can't win no matter who I pair with, so thank you, Ms. Umezawa, for helping me win [laughs]. I can't win by myself in Pair Go World Cup, but I hope to become the world's number one by borrowing Ms. Umezawa's power.'

The interviews continued.

Umezawa: 'I once became the world's number one as an amateur, so I hope to do the same as a professional.'
　Takao: 'The joy when you win is something you can't experience when you're playing by yourself. Nothing could be more fun. It's the happiest I've been as a professional.'
　Umezawa: 'By chance, the move that I played to save time was a good move. I was lucky.'
　Takao: 'Playing lightheartedly, just to have fun, seems to have worked out well. I'll remember this in the world championship and do my best.'