The 27th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament will take place from 19 to 21 March at Susono Ground of Tokinosumika Sports Centre, in Susono, Shizuoka prefecture. This event is for ladies over 30 years of age to promote women’s football as life-long sporting activity. Prior to the start of this tournament, this article is reviewing last year’s tournament.

16 teams qualified from all over Japan were divided into 4 groups consisting of 4 teams for the first group stage. After this stage, each team was put into a group with the other teams that finished in the same position in their group. 

While all teams had intensive patches, Azure Hyogo (Kansai 1/Hyogo), FC BB (Kanto 3/Saitama), USED FC TDS (Kansai 3/Osaka), and Shimizu FC Ladies (Tokai/Shizuoka) got through as top teams of each group. In the first team’s tournament, Hyogo beat FC BB 3-1, and Shimizu beat USED FC 2-1 to move on to the final. 

The final match between Hyogo and Shimizu moved quickly at the beginning; in the first minute, Hyogo’s HASEGAWA Kei ran onto the vertical pass, carried on dribbling towards the goal and skipped past the onrushing goalkeeper and she successfully scored. Hyogo got the rhythm of the play by this opener and played aggressively in both offence and defence. They didn’t give Shimizu any chance with their sharp play. In the 15th minute, Hasegawa broke down the opponent’s left wing and scored again and extended their lead 2-0.

Towards the end of the match, Shimizu started intensive attack but Hyogo got united well to defend it and the match ended; Hyogo got the consecutive title from the previous year. On the other hand, the runners up Shimizu congratulated the champion after the match, and the 3-day competition ended in a positive atmosphere. 

Meanwhile 3 other teams won in the each group: Kochi ganador FC (Shikoku/Kochi) from the 2nd place group, Tokyo Artemis SC (Kanto 1/Tokyo) from the 3rd group, and FC Mummys (Kanto 2/Kanagawa) from the 4th group.

The 27th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament

19 March 2016 - 21 March 2016
Susono Ground of Tokinosumika Sports Centre (Susono, Shizuoka)
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