is a Japanese curler. He is a three-time Japanese men's champion

skip Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aiding ...

Career

Yanagisawa played

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

on the Karuizawa SC team skipped by Yoshiro Shimizu 2018

Japan Curling Championships The Japan Curling Championships (') are the annual Japanese men's and women's curling championships, organized by the Japan Curling Association (JCA). The winners get to represent Japan at the men's and women's World Curling Championships and the ...

. The team finished the round robin portion of the tournament with a 6–2 record, making the playoffs. In the playoffs, they defeated Naomasa Takeda in the 3 vs. 4 game, before losing to Masaki Iwai in the semifinal, settling for third place. Yanagisawa moved to

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

on the Karuizawa team in 2019, which was now skipped by Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi. The team played in the 2020 Japan Curling Championships, where they again went 6–2 in the round robin. In the playoffs, they defeated Yuya Takigahira in the 3 vs. 4 game, before losing to Yusuke Morozumi in the semifinal. That season, the team played in many tour events, winning the Moosehead Fall Open in Canada, and the Keijinkai Rizing Cup back home in Japan. The team played in the 2021 Japanese Championship as well, finishing the round robin with a 4–2 record. However, in the playoffs, they lost in the 3 vs. 4 game to Morozumi. The following season, Yanagisawa took over as

of the Karuizawa SC team. Yanagisawa and his team of Yamaguchi now at third, a 15 year old Takeru Yamamoto and Satoshi Koizumi went undefeated in the round robin of the 2022 Japanese championship. In the playoffs, they lost the 1 vs. 2 game to Hayato Sato's Sapporo International University team. They rebounded by defeating Yasumasa Tanida in the semifinal, before defeating Sato in the final, winning the gold medal. With the win, the team represented Japan at the inaugural

2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships The inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships were held from October 31 to November 6 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta. The event was used to qualify teams for the 2023 World Curling Championships ...

. There, he led Japan to a 3–4 round robin record. This was still good enough to make it to the playoffs, but they lost the semifinal to Canada, and the bronze medal game to the United States. The team had a strong season on the tour, winning the Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic, Karuizawa International Curling Championships and the King Cash Spiel. The team would tour Canada for over three months from August to December, and were based out of

Kelowna, British Columbia Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ', ...

, where they trained with their coach Bob Ursel. Later in the season, they had another successful run at the Japanese national championships in 2023. There, they went 7–1 in the round robin, before winning the 1 vs. 2 game against Kohsuke Hirata, and beating Hirata again in the final. The win qualified the team to represent Japan at the 2023 World Men's Curling Championship. At the Worlds, the team finished with a 5–7 record, missing the playoffs and finishing seventh overall.

Personal life

Yanagisawa grew up in

Karuizawa is a resort town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,323 in 9897 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Originally, there was a stage station ( ...

. He currently works as a manufacturer.

Grand Slam record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanagisawa, Riku 2001 births Living people Japanese male curlers Curlers from Nagano Prefecture People from Karuizawa, Nagano