Miku Nihira
Miku Nihira is a Japanese curler from Sapporo. She currently skips and throws third rocks on Team Momoha Tabata, known in Japan as the Hokkaido Bank curling team.
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.Nihira joined Team Hokkaido Bank in 2021. Playing third on the team, skipped by Momoha Tabata, Nihira won a bronze medal at the 2022 Japan Curling Championships. 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.
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 in the semifinal before losing to Switzerland in the final, settling for a silver medal.
Following juniors, the rink had a strong 2024–25 curling season on the women's tour, winning the Ice Gold Cup, the Argo Graphics Cup, the Saville Shootout, the Red Deer Curling Classic 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. 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. 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, before bowing out in the quarter finals to team Anna Hasselborg, who earned the right to select Team Tabata as they playoff opponent in a draft.
The rink won another silver medal at the 2025 Japan Curling Championships, losing in the final to fellow Sapporo rink Sayaka Yoshimura.
Personal life
She attended the Hokkaido University of Education. Before curling, Nihira competed in karate for 10 years.Grand Slam record
| Event | 2024–25 | 2025–26 |
| Masters | QF | QF |
| Tour Challenge | T2 | Q |
| The National | Q | Q |
| Canadian Open | Q | SF |
| Players' | Q | Q |