The Quarterfinals and Semifinals

On Saturday, December 18, 1999, the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Pro Pair Go Ricoh Cup 2000 were held at Ebisu The Garden Hall in Meguro Ward, Tokyo. As a consequence, the pair of Ms. Mika Yoshida 6-dan and Mr. Hiroaki Tono 9-dan and the pair of Ms. Mayu Hosaka 2-dan and Mr. Kimio Yamada 7-dan have advanced to the final.

Ebisu The Garden Hall

The games were opened to the public.

The eight pairs who competed in the quarterfinals were determined a week ago. These 16 players had won the first and second rounds or the games to get the right to advance to the quarterfinals. Although the number of players was reduced to half of last week, nearly 700 Go fans thronged to watch the games.

The board showed the results of previous week's games	Tournament board
Reception	All games were displayed on the monitor.
Many Go fans visited the hall.	Many Go fans visited the hall.

Ms. Ayako Nakazawa 4-dan arrived at the hall first, much earlier than the appointed time. She was followed by her partner, Mr. Naoto Hikosaka 9-dan. Although this pair had not arranged between them to come early, their early arrival seemed to display their enthusiasm toward the games.

Ms. Miyoko Goto acted as MC.

Soon after, other participants arrived there one after another. The players, while waiting for the games to start, had box lunches served and chatted among themselves. When called by a staff member, they went up on the stage and were introduced to the audience. Then, the quarterfinals began.

* Introduction of the players *

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