Third time lucky…?
The road to the third World Riichi Championship was rocky… Originally scheduled for August 2020, the global pandemic forced two postponements on the host, Kasu Club. After a long and excruciating wait for the players, the WRC Vienna event was finally held in 2022.
We were particularly excited to welcome our generous main sponsor, Asics, without whom the event would have been significantly less elaborate.
We were also generously supported by Ronron, ALBAN, and USPML.
Champion Keijun Nara
Mandatory masks did not dull the spirit of competition and enthusiasm of players, though. It was a great welcome back to international competitive play. It was the first event where not only one, but two non-Japanese amateur players reached the final table, making for a thrilling final day.
Keijun Nara of Japan took the title of third World Riichi Champion, and made himself an immediate favourite in the community. Will he be able to hold on to that title in his homeland when the fourth WRC travels to Japan…?
| Position | Last Name | First Name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NARA | KEIJUN | Japan |
| 2 | FUJISAKI | SATOSHI | Japan |
| 3 | COURTOIS | VALENTIN | France |
| 4 | ZUBENKO | ANNA | Ukraine |
| 5 | KHROMOV | KIRILL | Independent |
| 6 | LEUNG | SZE CHUN | Hong Kong |
| 7 | MORENO | DANIEL | United States |
| 8 | HIRO | SHIBATA | Japan |
| 9 | KUROKI | MASAO | Japan |
| 10 | PIERARD DE MAUJOUY | JÉRÉMIE | France |
| 11 | HE | LINXUAN | Spain |
| 12 | ITOU | YUKO | Japan |
| 13 | KONDRATENKO, | KATERYNA | Ukraine |
| 14 | FURUHASHI | TAKASHI | Japan |
| 15 | NELSON | GARTHE | United States |
| 16 | LUI | CY | Hong Kong |
| 17 | SHIBATA | YOSHIKAZU | Japan |
| 18 | ROBERGE | LOÏC | Canada |
| 19 | VEREMENKO | ANASTASIIA | Ukraine |
| 20 | LENSU | KONSTA | Finland |
| 21 | IGARASHI | TATSUYA | Poland |
| 22 | DINYESI | ZOLTAN | Hungary |
| 23 | TOMOTAKE | MASAHARU | Japan |
| 24 | PETRUSHCHENKO | SERGEY | Independent |
| 25 | BARR | JENN | United States |
| 26 | YAMADA | MANABU | Japan |
| 27 | SCHEYER | ALLON | United States |
| 28 | KOSHINO | TOMONORI | Japan |
| 29 | HAYAKAWA | RINKA | Japan |
| 30 | LAVALLEE | SEBASTIAN | Denmark |
| 31 | HONDA | TOMOHIRO | Japan |
| 32 | TERANISHI | MAMI | Japan |
| 33 | BEESE | PETER | Germany |
| 34 | DERMOUT | JOS | Belgium |
| 35 | NISHIJIMA | KAZUHIKO | Japan |
| 36 | JOHANSSON | NIKLAS | Sweden |
| 37 | THERKELSEN | LARS | Denmark |
| 38 | NIKAIDO | AKI | Japan |
| 39 | MECOZZI | MARCELO | Argentina |
| 40 | BAKKER | FOPPE | Netherlands |
| 41 | HOOGLAND | ANS | Netherlands |
| 42 | LABAŠ | MATEJ | Slovakia |
| 43 | KUITUNEN | JOUNI | Finland |
| 44 | YAMAI | HIROSHI | Japan |
| 45 | ŠIROŇ | TOMÁŠ | Slovakia |
| 46 | DONAGHY | MICHAEL | Great |
| 47 | MCLEOD | MICHAEL | United States |
| 48 | LUI | KINYAN | United States |
| 49 | TAI | AUSTIN | United States |
| 50 | SUGAWARA | HIROE | Japan |
| 51 | IGA | NORIO | Japan |
| 52 | WIDJAJA | DANIEL | Singapore |
| 53 | LIM | LEON | Singapore |
| 54 | DINH | KEVIN | Australia |
| 55 | GERMEAU | NATHAN | Belgium |
| 56 | HANNIKAINEN | JANNE | Finland |
| 57 | GAHLER | DANIEL | Germany |
| 58 | HUYNH | JOE-CALBERSON | France |
| 59 | YAMAWAKI | CHIFUMI | Japan |
| 60 | MONTEBELLI | MARCO | Ital |
| 61 | DOPPELHOFER | ALEXANDER | Austria |
| 62 | TSUCHIYA, | YUKIHIRO | Japan |
| 63 | ANDERSEN | MORTEN | Denmark |
| 64 | SHIM | HYOJEONG | South Korea |
| 65 | AOI | YURIKA | Japan |
| 66 | POPŁAWSKA | NINA | Poland |
| 67 | BORDIGNON | MURILO | Brazil |
| 68 | HIYOSHI | TATSUYA | Japan |
| 69 | AUGUSTIN | STEVE | United States |
| 70 | LESTER | MARTIN | Great Britain |
| 71 | PAKSHAEV | KONSTANTIN | Norway |
| 72 | ENDICOTT | CHRIS | Great Britain |
| 73 | IZUMI | YUKIKO | Japan |
| 74 | IGARASHI | OLGA | Poland |
| 75 | PFLEGER | NICOLAS | Argentina |
| 76 | GRZYBOWSKI | ŁUKASZ | Poland |
| 77 | AGUERRE | CÉDRIC | France |
| 78 | BIELBY | PHILIP | Great Britain |
| 79 | MALAFAIA | NATHAN | Brazil |
| 80 | NISHIKAWA | JUN | Japan |
| 81 | YU | JAMES | South Korea |
| 82 | NGUYEN | PATRICK | United States |
| 83 | MORIYAMA | SHIGEKAZU | Japan |
| 84 | CHAN | RUSSELL | Great Britain |
| 85 | - | MIO | Japan |
| 86 | ESCHENBURG | AXEL | Germany |
| 87 | RUPP | BIRGITT | Austria |
| 88 | VAN DER SLUIJS | MICHAEL | Romania |
| 89 | NØHR | JESPER | Denmark |
| 90 | OOI | BOON WEI | Singapore |
| 91 | HUANG | SHAO-MING | Taiwan |
| 92 | KONO | RAN | Japan |
| 93 | FRANCKS | ZACH | United States |
| 94 | YOON | JESHIPIO | United States |
| 95 | LIMA | ALLAN | Brazil |
| 96 | VIINIKKA | VILHELMIINA | Finland |
| 97 | HE | JAYMOND | Australia |
| 98 | MAHONEY | GRANT | Canada |
| 99 | HAMMERL | DOMINIK | Austria |
| 100 | WOŹNIAK | MATEUSZ | Poland |
| 101 | WEINGUNY | LENA | Austria |
| 102 | ROJAS VALLEJO | FELIPE | Chile |
| 103 | TOMISSER | MANUEL | Austria |
| 104 | LIM | HEONWOO | South Korea |
| 105 | SEA | JEREMY | Australia |
| 106 | LOU | WEI DE | Italy |
| 107 | HYUGA | KYOSUKE | Japan |
| 108 | ROUDERGUE | CESAR | Chile |
| 109 | SAKAMOTO | GEMMA | Great Britain |
| 110 | GERMEYS | JASPER | Sweden |
| 111 | GULMANS | MARTIJN | Netherlands |
| 112 | CHEE | AARON | Australia |
| 113 | CHEUNG | KAKA | Hong Kong |
| 114 | GÜRTL-DUSLEAG | MICHAEL | Austria |
| 115 | BODDE | ROBERT | Netherlands |
| 116 | HAHN | TIMUR | Germany |
| 117 | BALANYUK | VITALY | Ukraine |
| 118 | ABDOLLAHI | PHILIP | Iran |
| 119 | ZYN | Taiwan | |
| 120 | DUCKWORTH | JOHN | Great Britain |
| 121 | FROSTAD | JO MAGNUS | Norway |
| 122 | VINOGRADOV | VALENTINE | Independent |
| 123 | TOKUDA | KENNETH | Japan |
| 124 | ADAMS | RYAN | United States |
| 125 | LETH | HENRIK | Denmark |
| 126 | MARSAC | ISABELLE | France |
| 127 | SAITO | GO | Japan |
| 128 | SUN | ZEYU | France |
| 129 | POWEZKA | TOMASZ | Poland |
| 130 | PERSSON | STEFAN | Sweden |
| 131 | HIRABAYASHI | YUI | Japan |
| 132 | MATOS LIMA | SERGIO | Portugal |
| 133 | POZNIAK | CLAIRE | United States |
| 134 | DE ROOCK | CHRIS | Belgium |
| 135 | IKONEN | TOMMI | Finland |
| 136 | THAM | FENG | Singapore |
| 137 | WECKHUYZEN | TINE | Belgium |
| 138 | YEUNG | YUK FAI | Singapore |
| 139 | NEDOKUSHEV | MYKHAILO | Ukraine |
| 140 | PICARD | SIMON | Ireland |
| 141 | JERGUŠ | JURAJ | Slovakia |
| 142 | GHERARDI | AUGUSTO | Italy |
| 143 | NIKAIDO | RUMI | Japan |
| 144 | TREPINSKA | KAROLINA | France |
| 145 | FERRARI | LUCA | Uruguay |
| 146 | YAREMENKO | SVETA | Ukraine |
| 147 | ABARZA | CRISTIAN | Chile |
| 148 | LOGINOVA | YULIA | Independent |
| 149 | CHASSOT | FRÉDÉRIC | Switzerland |
| 150 | KEYL | ANNEKE | Netherlands |
| 151 | MARTELLI | MIRIA | Italy |
| 152 | NEUMANN, | VETLE | Norway |