Shuster wins Karuizawa International Bronze

USA's John Shuster won 7-3 over Kohsuke Hirata (Kitami) Sunday morning. Shuster, with Chris Plys at third, Colin Hufman at second and Matt Hamilton at lead bounced back after losing 10-3 to Japan's Riku Yanagisawa in the Saturday evening's semifinals. John Landsteiner also played regularly over the weekend as Shuster works with a five player line-up under coach Steven Birklid. Shuster held Hirata to a sing point in the first end, then scored two in the second end. Another force in the third end, following by two more points for Shuster with the hammer in the fourth end had the team from Duluth, Minnesota out to a 4-2 lead at the halfway point. Shuster repeated the feat for the third time, then stole another point in the seventh end for the 7-3 win. Shuster went 3-0 during the round-robin qualifying round, winning their pool. In their opening game Shuster defeated ByeongJin Jeong (Seoul, South Korea) 6-4, then won 10-1 against Hiroyuki Honda (Kitami, Japan) and finished up with a 7-3 win over Yusuke Morozumi (Karuizawa, Japan). Related: John Shuster vs. Kohsuke Hirata - Prestige Classic (October 2022)