Team Tabata came out on top in a showdown between two Japanese squads in the Red Deer Curling Classic's women's final.
Skip Momoha Tabata, alongside lead Mikoto Nakajima, second Sae Yamamoto and third Miku Nihira, defeated Team Fujisawa 7-4 in an extra end on Monday, Nov. 18 at the Pidherney Centre.
"We have Japan Curling Championships coming up and I think we might meet in the finals there. I think it was great that were able to play in the finals here," Tabata told the Advocate through a translator app on her phone.
Team Tabata had to go through two other Japanese teams before meeting Team Fujisawa in the final. In the quarterfinal, Tabata led her team to a victory over Team Yoshimura 4-3 — Team Tabata then defeated Team Kitazawa 11-3 in the semi-final.
Meanwhile, Team Fujisawa, comprised of skip Satsuki Fujisawa, lead Yurika Yoshida, second Yumi Suzuki and third Chinami Yoshida, defeated Team MacMillan of Canada 6-5 in the semifinal en route to the final.
In the men's final, Team Dunstone defeated Team Epping 6-0.
"We got better with every game," Dunstone said of his team's performance through the Red Deer Curling Classic.
"We had one little hiccup through the event. But all we did was get more games, get more comfortable with the ice. On Sunday and Monday, we didn't really miss much. We felt really good about our game, and caught a few breaks and took advantage of them."
En route to the championship game, Team Dunstone defeated Team Casper 4-2. Then in the semi-final, Dunstone bested Team Dropkin 7-4. Team Epping, comprised of skip John Epping, lead Ian McMillan, second Tanner Horgan and Third Jake Horgan, beat Team Calvert 5-2 in the quarterfinal and Team McDonald 5-4 in the semifinal.
Team Dunstone is currently ranked seventh in the world, according to www.curlingzone.com. Dunstone said his team has had a solid start to the season.
"It's been a big improvement over last year at this point, I would say. We're definitely continuing to trend in the right direction. We're a pretty confident group right now and (the Red Deer Curling Classic victory) is obviously going to add to that."
The team will next head to St John's, N.L. for its third Gram Slam event of the season.
The Red Deer Curling Classic began on Friday, Nov. 15.