Tori Koana
| Tori Koana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | May 25, 1995 Kōfu, Yamanashi, Japan[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mixed doubles partner | Go Aoki[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Curling career  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member Association |  Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship appearances | 2 (2018, 2026) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Mixed Doubles Championship appearances | 1 (2026) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other appearances | Asian Winter Games: 1 (2025) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Tori Koana (小穴 桃里, Koana Tōri) is a Japanese curler. She was the skip of Team Fujikyu,[3] and now focuses on mixed doubles with curling partner Go Aoki
Career
[edit]Women
[edit]Koana found success in women's curling during the 2017–2018 season, where she would skip her team to a gold medal at the 2018 Japan Women's Curling Championships.[4] This win qualified the Koana rink to represent Japan at the 2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship[1] finishing in 10th. She also represented Japan at the third leg of the 2018–19 Curling World Cup, finishing with a 2–4 record.
To begin the 2019-20 curling season, Koana won the Morioka City Women's Memorial Cup and finished runner-up at the 2019 Cargill Curling Training Centre Icebreaker.[5][6] The Koana rink was unable to win another Japanese Women's title, finishing 4th at the 2020 and 2021. Koana later decided to become an alternate on the team, that would now be skipped by Yuna Kotani for the 2021-22 curling season, where they finished in 8th at the 2022 Japan Curling Championships.
Mixed doubles
[edit]Koana started curling with Go Aoki in mixed doubles in 2021, where they found success, finishing third at the 2021 Japan Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. Koana and Aoki would then start to focus on solely on mixed doubles curling, where they would continue to find success nationally, finishing second at the 2023 and 2025 national championships, as well as winning multiple events on the world mixed doubles tour. Koana and Aoki first represented Japan in mixed doubles at the 2025 Asian Winter Games, where they won the gold medal, beating South Korea 7–6 in the final.
Koana and Aoki would win their first mixed doubles national title at the 2025 Japanese Olympic mixed doubles curling trials, defeating both the 2024 (Miyu Ueno & Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi) and 2025 (Chiaki Matsumura & Yasumasa Tanida) Japanese mixed doubles champions. This gave Koana and Aoki the right to represent Japan at the Olympic Qualification Event where they will need to finish in the top two to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.[7]
Personal life
[edit]Koana worked as an amusement park employee for Fujikyu Highland Co., Ltd.[1] until 2022.[3] She currently works as an office manager and is married.[8]
Teams
[edit]| Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | Junko Nishimuro (Fourth) | Tori Koana (Skip) | Misato Yanagisawa | Riko Toyoda | ||
| 2014–15 | Junko Nishimuro (Fourth) | Misato Yanagisawa | Tori Koana (Skip) | Riko Toyoda | Yuna Kotani | |
| 2015–16 | Junko Nishimuro (Fourth) | Misato Yanagisawa | Tori Koana (Skip) | Yuna Kotani | Riko Toyoda | |
| 2016–17 | Junko Nishimuro (Fourth) | Tori Koana (Skip) | Yuna Kotani | Mao Ishigaki | Kyoka Kuramitsu | |
| 2017–18 | Tori Koana | Yuna Kotani | Mao Ishigaki | Arisa Kotani | Kaho Onodera | WWCC 2018 (10th) |
| 2018–19 | Tori Koana | Junko Nishimuro | Mao Ishigaki | Arisa Kotani | Yuna Kotani | CWC (6th) |
| 2019–20 | Tori Koana | Yuna Kotani | Mao Ishigaki | Arisa Kotani | [9] | |
| 2020–21 | Tori Koana | Yuna Kotani | Mao Ishigaki | Arisa Kotani | ||
| 2021–22 | Yuna Kotani | Arisa Kotani | Mao Ishigaki | Michiko Tomabechi | Tori Koana |
Grand Slam record
[edit]| Key | |
|---|---|
| C | Champion |
| F | Lost in Final |
| SF | Lost in Semifinal |
| QF | Lost in Quarterfinals |
| R16 | Lost in the round of 16 |
| Q | Did not advance to playoffs |
| T2 | Played in Tier 2 event |
| DNP | Did not participate in event |
| N/A | Not a Grand Slam event that season |
| Event | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
| Masters | Q |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Media Guide – 2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship" (PDF). Curling Canada. 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
- ↑ Japan Curling Association [@japan_curling] (26 February 2023). 第16回 全農 日本ミックスダブルスカーリング選手権大会 [The 16th Zen-Noh Japan Mixed-Doubles Curling Championship] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 February 2023 – via Twitter.
- 1 2 Tori Koana [@tori_koana] (2 September 2022). チーム@fujiq_curlingと、別の道を歩むことになりました。 [We have decided to go our separate ways with team @fujiq_curling.] (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 February 2023 – via Twitter.
- ↑ "35th Japan Curling Championships". Japan Curling Association (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-12-04.
- ↑ "2019 Morioka City Women's Memorial Cup". Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ↑ "2019 Cargill Curling Training Centre Icebreaker". CurlingZone. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ↑ "2025 Mixed Doubles Curling Japan Representative Deciding Match". Japan Curling Association (in Japanese). Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ↑ "2026 World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
- ↑ Morioka City Womens Memorial Cup
External links
[edit]- Tori Koana at World Curling
- Tori Koana at InterSportStats
- Tori Koana at Team Japan (in Japanese) (in English)
