The second round of the 15th Nongshim Cup finished on December 7, 2013 with Team Japan being eliminated. The previous round was played in late October.
Giant noodle cups
In honour of Nongshim’s best known product, Wang Runan 8p, Yamashiro Hiroshi 9p and Kim In 9p pulled scrolls out of giant noodle cups, to determine the order of play.
From left: Wang Runan, Yamashiro Hiroshi and Kim In.
Kim selected the odd scroll, which gave Korea a bye in the first round.
15th Nongshim Cup Teams
Team China
China’s Chen Yaoye 9p, Zhou Ruiyang 9p and Tan Xiao 7p are playing for the third time in this tournament.
Their team mates are Shi Yue 9p and Fan Tingyu 9p, who are making their debut on China’s Nongshim Cup team.
Team China, clockwise from top left: Tan Xiao, Zhou Ruiyang, Chen Yaoye, Shi Yue and Fan Tingyu (center).
Team Japan
Japan sent Yuki Satoshi 9p, Kono Rin 9p, Cho U 9p, Anzai Nobuaki 6p and young gun Yao Zhiteng 2p (1p at the time of play).
Yao won the right to be promoted to 1p in Taiwan, at the age of 11 in 2009, but refused his promotion to become an insei in Japan instead.
Three years later, in 2012, he became a professional with the Nihon Kiin.
Team Japan, from top left: Yuki Satoshi, Cho U, Kono Rin, Yao Zhiteng and Anzai Nobuaki.
Team Korea
Korea’s Kang Dongyun 9p and Choi Kihoon 4p are joined by three members from last year’s winning team, Kim Jiseok 9p, Park Junghwan 9p and Choi Cheolhan 9p.
Team Korea, clockwise from top left: Park Junghwan, Kang Dongyun, Choi Kihoon, Kim Jiseok and Choi Cheolhan (center).
China’s running start in round one
Round one was played from October 22-25, 2013. Fan Tingyu got China off on a roll, quickly dispatching Japan’s Yao Zhiteng and Anzai Nobuaki, as well as Choi Kihoon from Korea.
Fan’s run was cut short by Korea’s Kang Dongyun at the end of round one.
Round two
When play resumed on December 2, 2013, Kang only managed one more win, over Kono Rin, before succumbing to Team China’s Chen Yaoye.
Chen also had a pretty good run, with three straight wins. He defeated Yuki Satoshi after his win over Kang.
Choi Cheolhan 9 dan (left) faces his nemesis, Chen Yaoye 9 dan.
By now, no doubt Choi Cheolhan (the next man on the Korean bench) was wondering if the universe was having a joke at his expense.
We’ve written before about Chen’s remarkable record against Choi.
Choi actually played Chen in this tournament last year and broke his losing streak against Chen.
Unfortunately Choi couldn’t repeat that feat this year.
Japan’s last man
Japan’s anchorman, Cho U 9 dan, ended Chen Yaoye’s run before being knocked out by Kim Jiseok.
Cho U, Japan’s anchorman, was up next.
Cho ended Chen’s run, but his momentum was cut short by Kim Jiseok, the dangerous infighter from Team Korea.
The final round
With Korea’s Park Junghwan (and Kim Jiseok) and China’s Zhou Ruiyang, Tan Xiao and Shi Yue still in play, Kim will have to wait until play resumes in February 2014 for his next opponent.
As always, we’ll keep you updated as China and Korea battle it out for the title.
The Nongshim Cup
The Nongshim Cup is a team event between China, Japan and Korea.
The sponsor, Nongshim, is a Korean instant noodles company.
The tournament uses a win and continue format, which is common in these team events.
Korea has dominated this event, winning it 11 times. In contrast, China has won the tournament twice and Japan only once.
15th Nongshim Cup photos
Game records
Kono Rin vs Kang Dongyun – Game 5
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Chen Yaoye vs Kang Dongyun – Game 6
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Chen Yaoye vs Yuki Satoshi – Game 7
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Chen Yaoye vs Choi Cheolhan – Game 8
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Cho U vs Chen Yaoye – Game 9
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Cho U vs Kim Jiseok – Game 10
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