< Round 2 >

(Black) Yimin Xie, holder of the women's Triple Crown, & Wang Ming Wan 9-dan vs. (White) Kumiko Yashiro 5-dan & Koichi Kobayashi 9-dan
This game was one incredible fight after another. The review by the winning pair of Xie and Ming Wan testifies to how violent the game was.

Ming Wan : 'We kept fighting and I thought it was hopeless, but suddenly I realized we had won. It was a tough game.'
Xie : 'That's right. When I realized what was going on, we'd won.'

This win earned the Xie/Ming Wan team a place in the semifinals. Both their games had been difficult fights, but they had ended up winning. No wonder they were favourites.

The defeated team of Yashiro and Kobayashi looked regretful, but they had lost to a formidable team. When the game got into a confused fight, that made the odds bad for them. After it finished, Kobayashi, who was by himself in the corridor, mumbled something to himself before suddenly taking off down the stairs. That made a strong impression on me. He's a serious person and is always playing in earnest.

(White) Akino Izawa 4-dan & Wang Li Chen 9-dan vs. (Black) Ayumi Suzuki 6-dan & Hiroshi Yamashiro 9-dan
In Pair Go, incidents often break out during a game, starting violent fighting, but this game was a half-pointer all the way. There was a fight over a half-point ko, so the spectators had no idea who was winning. In the end, the Izawa/Li Chen pair earned a semifinal seat with a half-point win.

Yamashiro 9-dan from the defeated pair took responsibility, saying: 'I played a funny move. Until then, the game had felt good.' Suzuki 6-dan expressed her gratitude: 'Your lead was good. For part of the way the game was a masterpiece.' She added another kind comment: 'In the first game, too, you stopped me from going out of control.'

After games finish, spectators surround the players and it becomes autograph time. Being able to have close-up contact with top players whose faces are well-known is one of the charms of this tournament. The players happily waited around until everyone who wanted a photo or an autograph was satisfied. It was a very nice scene.

After games finish, spectators surround the players and it becomes autograph time. Being able to have close-up contact with top players whose faces are well-known is one of the charms of this tournament. The players happily waited around until everyone who wanted a photo or an autograph was satisfied. It was a very nice scene.

(Black) Yukari Yoshihara 5-dan & Satoshi Yuki 9-dan vs. (White) Terumi Koyama 6-dan & 25th Honinbo Chikun (Cho Chi Hun 9-dan)
The Yoshihara/Yuki pair won after a fierce fight. When the game review began, Cho and Yuki both began slapping stones down and entered their own world.

Yoshihara had nothing but regrets. 'I spoiled it with this move.' 'I wonder how one should play here.' Even when they win, professionals are hard on themselves. Yuki commented later: 'I hadn't played with Yukari before, and I don't know much about her go. When I watched her from a distance, she always seemed to be agonizing over her moves, so I thought she was a pessimist. That's the only data I had.' It certainly may be true that Yoshihara is a pessimist. 'But we won,' said Yuki encouragingly, 'so we must have played well.'

(White) Chiaki Mukai 4-dan & Shinji Takao 9-dan vs. (Black) Fumiko Sakakibara 6-dan & Naoki Hane Gosei
In the middle game, the balance tilted towards the Sakakibara/Hane pair and they took the lead. Ishida had said that it was almost impossible for the Mukai/Takao pair to win, but they fought desperately and made the game even. Perhaps because of good teamwork, they pulled off an upset and advanced to the semifinals.

< The semifinals >

(White) Yimin Xie, holder of the women's Triple Crown, & Wang Ming Wan 9-dan vs.(Black) Akino Izawa 4-dan & Wang Li Chen 9-dan
The key point in Pair Go is said to be how well the male player fits in with the female player; in a sense, the female player is the star. So people usually play attention to the clash between the female halves of the teams, but that doesn't apply in this case. With the two Os, who are great rivals, glaring at each other, the clash of wills between the male players also promised to be spectacular.

Li Chen played ingeniously in the opening, but the flow of the game tilted towards Xie and Ming Wan. At the public commentary, Aoba recalled that Xie and Ming Wan had won 'both their previous games by great upsets.' Ishida added: 'It's unusual for them to win smoothly.' However you put it, this pair is strong. Only real fighting strength could enable you to turn a losing game around.

The balance of this game tilted suddenly and decisively towards Xie and Ming Wan. Izawa and Li Chen resigned in the middle game. The ending was surprisingly anticlimactic.

When asked the cause of his win later, Ming Wan gave us a peek behind the scenes. He said: 'I had just realized I had made a blunder when the opponents also immediately made a blunder. But it took a long time for us to realize.' Whereupon Xie broke in in surprise: 'I was completely unaware of both of the blunders.' Whatever it is, they make a good combination. The secret of their success may be that they complement each other.

(Black) Yukari Yoshihara 5-dan & Satoshi Yuki 9-dan vs. (White) Chiaki Mukai 4-dan & Shinji Takao 9-dan
Ishida had marked this contest down as a clash of favourites. They played a fierce game from the opening in which even one mistake threatened to be fatal. During the game, the Mukai/Takao team compromised, so the Yoshihara/Yuki team took a small lead. In the end, Mukai and Takao, who seemed very likely to lose, went on a rampage inside the opponents' territory. They went all out, bringing a dead group back to life, but unfortunately that didn't suffice to turn the game around. The Yoshihara/Yuki pair won a seat in the final.

The Yimin Xie, holder of the women's Triple Crown, and Wang Ming Wan 9-dan pair
Xie : 'I've teamed with Wang Sensei three years in a row and I've really learnt a lot from him. I'll do my best in the final so that I don't handicap him.'

Wang : 'In individual tournaments, victory has become distant, but, thanks to Xie, I'm happy that I'm able to play a game that will decide victory. It does, after all, feel nice to play on a good stage.'

The Yukari Yoshihara 5-dan & Satoshi Yuki 9-dan pair
Yoshihara: 'I'm happy just at being able to play in the final. Our opponents have already won the tournament, so they should be satisfied. I'm going to play steadily to make the most of this precious opportunity.'

Yuki: 'I lost to the same opponents last year. Here I am again and this time I'm aiming to win.'