Miku Nihira
Japanese curler (born 2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miku Nihira (Japanese: 仁平美来; born 29 August 2002) is a Japanese curler from Sapporo. She currently skips and throws third rocks on Team Momoha Tabata,[1] known in Japan as the Hokkaido Bank curling team.
| Miku Nihira | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 29 August 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skip | Miku Nihira | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fourth | Momoha Tabata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Second | Sae Yamamoto | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lead | Mikoto Nakajima | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Curling career  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member Association |  Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
Nihira began curling in 2014 after being selected as one of the first group of students for the Hokkaido Talent Athlete Discovery Development Project.[2]
Nihira joined Team Hokkaido Bank in 2021.[3] Playing third on the team, skipped by Momoha Tabata, Nihira won a bronze medal at the 2022 Japan Curling Championships.[1] With Nihira taking over as skip, but throwing third stones, the rink won a silver medal at the 2024 Japan Curling Championships, losing in the final to SC Karuizawa Club, skipped by Miyu Ueno.[4]
Nihira skipped the Japanese team, which also consisted of Tabata, Yuina Miura, Mikoto Nakajima and Yui Ueno, at the 2024 World Junior Curling Championships. There, she led the team to a 7–2 round robin record. In the playoffs, the team defeated Norway (skipped by Torild Bjørnstad) in the semifinal before losing to Switzerland (Xenia Schwaller) in the final, settling for a silver medal.[5]
Following juniors, the rink had a strong 2024–25 curling season on the women's tour, winning the Ice Gold Cup,[6] the Argo Graphics Cup,[7] the Saville Shootout,[8] the Red Deer Curling Classic[9] and the Saville U25 Challenge events. The team made their Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Tour Challenge Tier 2 event, where they lost in the semifinals to their compatriots, Sayaka Yoshimura (Team Fortius). The team made their Tier 1 Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Canadian Open, where the finished with a win-less 0–4 record. At the next slam, the 2024 National, they improved to a 1–3 record.[1] And in the fourth slam of the year, the 2025 Masters, they improved once again, finishing the group stage with a 2–2 record. They then beat Team Danielle Inglis in a tiebreaker,[10] before bowing out in the quarter finals to team Anna Hasselborg,[11] who earned the right to select Team Tabata as they playoff opponent in a draft.[10]
The rink won another silver medal at the 2025 Japan Curling Championships, losing in the final to fellow Sapporo rink Sayaka Yoshimura.[12]
Personal life
She attended the Hokkaido University of Education.[13] Before curling, Nihira competed in karate for 10 years.[2]
Grand Slam record
| Key | |
|---|---|
| C | Champion |
| F | Lost in Final |
| SF | Lost in Semifinal |
| QF | Lost in Quarterfinals |
| R16 | Lost in the round of 16 |
| Q | Did not advance to playoffs |
| T2 | Played in Tier 2 event |
| DNP | Did not participate in event |
| N/A | Not a Grand Slam event that season |