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The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics!
Watching the Japanese athletes give it everything, I can’t sleep at night.
However strong you are, once every four years, if you can’t peak at that exact moment, you can’t become an Olympic champion.
Even if you’ve been unbeatable for three years, if your peak has passed by the Olympic year…
Even the timing of your birth seems to matter.
With those thoughts in mind, we are making our final preparations for Yokohama Open on February 23, 2026.
It may be presumptuous to compare ourselves with the Olympics.
But for the players, the resolve to stake everything on that day, that moment, must be the same.
The players entering Yokohama Open, too, have surely been tuning up and piling up practice for this day, aiming to arrive in their best condition!
Big wins are built from small daily wins
What lies behind an Olympic medalist’s shining moment?
Restrictions on what they eat.
Hard training.
Private time cut away.
Days of beating the temptation to rest, to play.
Big wins are built from small daily wins.
The moment of taking the medal is only a moment, but there must be countless “small wins” leading up to it.
The win of getting out of bed in the morning.
The win of finishing the practice plan.
The win of not going easy on yourself.
Isn’t it the same in pool?
From the “small win” of Yokohama Open to big wins in the future
To be honest, winning Yokohama Open may still be a small title.
But when we think about what lies ahead for all of you who take part, we believe that a win at this tournament will lead to bigger wins.
I won Yokohama Open.
I made the last eight.
I wrestled one win from a strong opponent.
Small wins like these become a player’s confidence, the drive toward the next step, and in time lead to wins on bigger stages. That is what we believe.
Some years from now, a player shining on the world stage says, “It all started at Yokohama Open.”
That is the future we dream of.
Value comes from continuing to offer a place for serious competition
What does Yokohama Open need to become a tournament of value?
We believe it is to keep offering a place where serious matches are fought.
An environment where players can clash with everything they have.
Fair and transparent operation.
And an atmosphere that wholeheartedly cheers on those who take up the challenge.
We on the Organizing Committee are in a serious contest too, just like the participants.
“We just thought we’d try running a tournament” would mean nothing.
If the players come at it as if their lives depend on it, we will stake our lives on this tournament too.
Otherwise, we don’t believe it can become a tournament of value.
The champion’s trophy has arrived
The other day, the champion’s trophy for this tournament arrived at the Organizing Committee.
The moment I held it, its weight made me stand up straighter.
This is not just an object.
The joy of the player who raises it, the tears of the rivals who fall short, the heat of the crowd watching it all: I feel it stands for every one of those things.
Whose hands will this trophy pass into?
And how will it shape the future of the player who takes it?
I can hardly wait!
On the day, heat to rival the Olympics
On February 23, the venue should be swirling with the players’ nerves and focus, and the crowd’s hopes and cheers.
Honed skill and strength of mind colliding, as they are now in Milano Cortina.
The feelings poured into a single ball.
The drama of a comeback.
We want to feel that same heat at Yokohama Open. No, we will feel it.
Preparations are going well.
All that remains is to set the stage on the day so the players can give their very best performance.
The trophy is quietly waiting to pass into someone’s hands.
From Yokohama, a new history of billiards begins.
Just like the players, we will take on this tournament with everything we have.
Come to the venue on the day, and you should feel the players’ heat on your skin.
Please, come and be a witness!
Watching is free!
Never played pool at all? Played pool, but never watched a match?
You are very welcome too!
Qualifying and finals venue: POOL LABO
Qualifying venue: Arrows Billiards
Qualifying venue: Side Nine
Qualifying venue: Astro Tsurugamine
