An interview with Takao Sinji, 9-dan (Japan)

Takao, 9-dan stopped the outstanding winning streak, showed by Kang Donyun, 8-dan (Korea) in Nongshim cup.
http://www.go4go.net/v2/modules/tournament/scorechart.php?key=28-10-ns

Congratulations! What do you think about your game with Kang? Most people said that he had no chances in this game.
Yes, I never was behind. Both fuseki and middlegame were good for me. Later it was a bit difficult for me to estimate the balance, because of byoyomi, so I was not sure, that I am still winning.

You are the last member of the Japanese team, but your team still has chances of winning the cup, if you win 5 games straight. What do you think about your chances?
I was afraid that Japanese team will not win any games at all. There are 4 players, who are still alive — Lee Changho, Lee Sedol, Gu Li and Chang Hao. All 4 are very good players and I cannot even think about winning 5 games straight. It will be very difficult for me to win a single game in the next stage.

Nongshim cup is a very popular tournament in Korea and China. Why is it almost unknown in Japan?
Maybe because of our bad results. I cannot see any other reasons.

According to the Nongshim cup rules only native-born players can take part in the competition. So, we cannot see Cho U and Cho Chikun in Japanese team. What do you think about this rule?
Yes, it's a pity that they cannot play. We cannot change the rules, so the only way for us is to improve the level of other candidates.

Translated from korean by Alexander Dinerchtein