JPML Pro League – August, 2009 (all leagues)
This was our final session of the first season this year. B Leagues and below met their fate by either moving up, just missing the mark, or dropping down to a lower league. The year-long A Leagues are still only halfway through their season. Let’s see how everyone fared.
A Leagues (5/10 sessions)
Naoki Setokuma holds strong in 2nd place with 94.4 points after another good showing of 32.6 points. Unfortunately last year’s Phoenix Cup winner, Tomotake, is in danger of dropping down to A2 with -119.1. Right below him is Yuko Ito with -123.0 points.
In A2 Kazunori “Takki” Takizawa posted a disappointing -39.4 points, but he still holds his 2nd place standing with 48.6 points. The only female in A-League, Aki Nikaido, posted another positive score of 8.5 points, moving her closer to the “safe zone.” But she’s still nearly 50 points away from Kenshi Katsumata in 12th place, the minimum to stay in A2 next year.
B Leagues (5/5 sessions)
Hisato Sasaki posted an impressive 5 sessions of positive scores in B1. Unfortunately his total of 65.7 points was not enough to move up to A2. Luckily he has one more chance before the next A-League season starts. For now he remains in B1.
Our loyal columnist, Shintaro Konno, ended precisely in the middle of B2 this season with a score of -26.4. Only 6 players out of 16 posted positive scores. He will look for another opportunity next season to regain his position in B1.
C Leagues (5/5 sessions)
Kozue Miyauchi once again proved her hard work by winning the C1 League! That’s 2 wins in a row for her and a spot right in B2 League. The only girl next season. Michi Yuuki posted an impressive 54.0 points, but it wasn’t enough for 5th place to move up. On the other hand Rumi Nikaido dropped down to C2 in 30th place, despite a positive score in the final session.
Emi Hojyo moved up to C1 from C2 in 6th place for the season. Her final score was 78.5 points. Shin Kamimura was down in 19th place and will remain in C2 for one more season.
D Leagues (5/5 sessions)
A positive score may have shot Garthe straight into the C-Leagues this session, but with a -41.3 he ended up in the middle of D1, securing his seat for next season.
On the other hand Jenn will move up to D1, taking 4th place in D2 this season. With only one negative score for the entire season (and only -5.3 at that), it looked like she would place higher, but the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place players all posted more than 40 points in the final session, all passing Jenn for the high-paying spots.
The new JPML season will start in October and we’ll be there reporting back to you. Let us know if there are players you want us to keep an eye on. Have a nice summer break!
