by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Wang wins Globis Cup
The 8th Globis Cup World Igo U-20, which decides the world’s top teenaged player, was held on the Net on June 5 and 6. It was won by Wang Xinghao 6p, who defeated his compatriot Tu Xiaoyu 6p in the final. This was the fourth victory for a Chinese player, to three for Korea, and one for Japan (that was Ichiriki Ryo in the first term).
This tournament has a dual structure, starting with four mini-leagues, each with four players, who compete over three rounds. Players who score two wins proceed to the next stage, a standard knock-out; players who lose two games are eliminated (this is known as the “double elimination” system). As the host country, Japan fields six players; they are joined by three each from China and Korea, and one each from Chinese Taipei, Europe, North America, and Asia/Oceania. The time allowance follows the NHK format: 30 seconds per move plus ten minutes to be used in one-minute units.
Three Japanese players, Ueno Asami, Otake Yu, and I Ryo, made the best eight, but here they were eliminated. China also got three in the best eight, of whom two sent through to the final. Park 5p of Korea beat Moon 4p, also of Korea, in the play-off for third place. First prize is 1,500,000 yen (about $136,000). Second is 250,000, and third 100,000.
6th LG Cup starts
The opening rounds of the 26th LG Cup, a Korean-sponsored tournament with a first prize of 300,000,000 won (about $262,000), were held on the Net on May 31 and June 2. Korean players did best, scoring four wins in each round, China
scored three in each, and Chinese Taipei won one game in the first round and Japan one in the second. For Japan, Ichiriki Ryo qualified for the quarterfinals for the third international tournament in a row. He seems to be the only player Japan can rely on. The quarterfinals are scheduled for November 7 and 8. Incidentally, the number of participants was reduced from 32 to 24 this year.
Round 1
(May 31) Weon Seongjin 9p (Korea) (B) beat Kyo Kagen (Xu Jiayuan) 9p (Japan) by resig.; Kim Jiseok 9p (Korea) (B) beat Ida Atsushi 8p (Japan) by resig.; MiYuting 9p (China) (B) beat Lee Changseok 7p (Korea) by resig.; Tao Xinran 8p (China) (W) beat Heo Yongho 9p (Korea) by resig.; Kang Dongyun 9p (Korea) (B) beat Xie Erhao 9p (China) by resig.; Tan Xiao 9p (China) (W) beat Park Jinsol 9p (Korea) by resig.; Kim Myounghoon 8p (Korea) (B) beat Xie Ke 9p (China) by resig.; Chen Chirui 7p (Ch. Taipei) (W) beat Hong Seongji 9p (Korea) by 1.5 points.
Round 2 (June 2). Ichiriki Ryo 9p (Japan) (W) beat Chen by resig.; Mi (B) beat Lee Donghun 9p (Korea) by resig.; Shin Jinseo 9p (Korea) (W) beat Tao by 3.5; Shin Minjun 9p (Korea) (B) beat Kang by resig.; Byun Sangil 9p (Korea) (W) beat Kim Myounghoon by 4.5; Park Junghwan 9p (Korea) (W) beat Tan by 1.5; Ke Jie 9p (China) (W) beat Weon by 0.5; Yang Dingxin 9p (China) (W) beat Kim Jiseok by resig.
Quarterfinal pairings are: Byun v. Mi, Park v. Ke, Shin J. v. Ichiriki, Shin M. v. Yang
Fujisawa defends Women’s Hollyhock Cup
The semifinals and finals and the best-of-three title match of the 8th Aizu Central Hospital Women’s Hollyhock Cup were all held at the Konjakutei Inn in Aizu Wakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, over a period of five days. Ueno
Asami became the challenger, but Fujisawa Rina defended her title with straight wins. She has now held the Hollyhock Cup for five years in a row and six times overall. This is her 18th title.
Results are given below.
Semifinals (June 15). Ueno Asami Women’s Kisei (W) beat Kato Chie 2p by resig.; Nyu Eiko 3p (B) beat Nakamura Sumire 2p by 6.5.
Final (June 16). Ueno (W) beat Nyu by resig.
Title match, Game 1 (June 18). Fujisawa (W) beat Ueno by resig.
Game 2 (June 19). Fujisawa (B) beat Ueno by resig.
