Takayama Nonoka - Team Igo & Shogi Channel 25-26

 

The youngest member of this team is 15 year old Takayama Nonoka (高
山希々花) - born 6th Decmber 2010 from Sapporo becoming a Professional at 13 years and 4 months only last year and is the current youngest ever female pro.

Still fairly new into her Go Career she was in this same team last year where she played 3 and lost 2 but her single win was against Mannami Nao 4 Dan which helped the team win the competition.

She is good friends with similarly aged Yanagihara Saki (who is playing for Fukuoka) and has beaten Nonoka in both competitive games they have played against each other. She also seems to have a big sister/little sister relationship with her team Captain Fujisawa Rina.

Her ELO rating chart shows a fall since gaining Professional and as she has only won 4 games and lost 15 the Pro ranks are potentially proving overwhelming.

Currently her ELO is 2749 and she is the #781 ranked player in the world. 

It is difficult to qualify play style for such a new player but she has been described as good with thickness and connections and several fans have commented on her strong and thrilling games. Her coach has claimed she is very versatile and will improve.


I think she will fill the reserve player slot unless something goes badly wrong and not be called to play that frequently but may do well when she is called to the plate fresh.