is a Japanese curler. He is a two-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 aidin ...

Career

Yanagisawa played

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

on the Karuizawa SC team skipped by Yoshiro Shimizu 2018 Japan Curling Championships. 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 * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

on the Karuizawa team in 2019, which was now skipped by Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi. The team played in the

2020 Japan Curling Championships The 2020 Japan Curling Championships ('' ja, 2020年日本カーリング選手権大会''), or the 37th Zen-Noh Japan Curling Championships ('' ja, 第37回全農日本カーリング選手権大会''), the Japanese national men's and women's cu ...

, 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 is a Japanese curler. He is a two-time Japanese men's champion, playing second for the SC Karuizawa team, skipped by Riku Yanagisawa. Career Yamamoto joined the SC Karuizawa team in 2022, at just the age of 15. The team played in the 2022 Jap ...

and

Satoshi Koizumi is a former Japanese football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where t ...

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 is a private university in Kiyota-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, established in 1993. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1969. The junior college division of the school is a women's college. Admission The school begins taking applicati ...

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. Th ...

. 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 The Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic is an annual curling tournament on the men's and women's curling tour. It is held at the Vernon Curling Club in Vernon, British Columbia. It was a part of the World Curling Tour The World Curling T ...

Karuizawa International Curling Championships The Karuizawa International Curling Championships is a curling bonspiel held annually since the Olympic Games in Nagano at the SCAP Karuizawa Arena in Kariuzawa, Japan. The bonspiel is held to commemorate the curling event at the 1998 Nagano ...

and the

King Cash Spiel The King Cash Spiel, formerly the Golden Ears Curling Classic and the Coronation Group Classic, is an annual cashspiel, or curling tournament, that takes place at the Golden Ears Curling Club in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. The event has been o ...

. 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 ''ki� ...

, 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 The 2023 World Men's Curling Championship (branded as 2023 BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was held from April 1 to 9 at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Ottawa was selected as the host site in ...

. 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 . Karuizawa is one of the oldest and most ...

. He currently works as a manufacturer.

Grand Slam record

References

External links

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