American Go E-Journal

JAPANESE SURGE IN THE NONGSHIM CUP: The Japanese, who in recent years haven’t survived past the second round of the Nongshim Cup have made it through to the third round this year. Hane Naoki 9P — Japan’s last player — pulled out a win on January 22nd and then defeated Park Yeonghun 9P of Korea. The Nongshim is a win-and-continue team event between five member teams from China, Japan, and Korea. The Japanese and Chinese teams have each won only once in Nonshim’s ten-year history, with Korea winning the other eight titles. The Koreans started out strong as usual, when Kim Jiseok  6P won the first three games, defeating two Japanese: Yamashita Keigo 9P and Takao Shinji 9P. Then Xie He 7P of China took over, winning five games before being stopped by Hane. The Koreans are also down to a single player, Lee Changho 9P, while the Chinese still have three. Hane’s next game will be against Liu Xing 7P of China in early March. The other Chinese players are Chang Hao9P and Gu Li 9P. Sources: Go News, GoGameWorld, Sensei’s Library, JustPlayGo