Waseda University alumni Kyosuke Matsuyama (JTB, graduated in 2020 from the School of Sport Sciences) and Koki Kano (JAL, graduated in 2020 from the School of Sport Sciences) have been informally selected to represent Japan in the fencing event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Matsuyama emerged victorious at the Asia Fencing Championships in June 2019, where he participated on the Men’s Fleuret Team. He also won the Men’s Individual Fleuret at the All Japan Fencing Championships held the following year in September 2020. His world ranking for the 2020-2021 season (men’s fleuret) was 32nd (as of April 26).
Kyosuke Matsuyama, a member of the Men’s Fleuret Fencing Team, participates in a training camp for the Japanese national fencing team in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture (Kyodo).
(From left) Uyama, Minobu, Kano, and Yamada hold up the Japanese flag in Jakarta after winning the Men’s Epee Team Championship for the first time (Kyodo).
Kano competed in the Men’s Individual Epee at the 2019 World Cup in Vancouver, Canada, where he won a gold medal. He then won a bronze medal in the team competition at the World Cup in Buenos Aires. His world ranking for the 2020-2021 season (men’s epee) was 21st (as of April 26).
On April 25, the Japan Fencing Federation announced the names of the athletes selected to represent Japan, with Matsuyama selected for the Men’s Fleuret and Kano selected for the Men’s Epee.
Profile
Kyosuke Matsuyama:
Born in Tokyo in 1996. Graduated from the School of Sports Science at Waseda University in 2020. He began fencing at the age of four and was first selected to represent Japan in the fifth grade. In high school, he won three consecutive inter-high school championships. After entering the university, he won the 2016 Junior World Championships, placed second individually at the 2017 Universiade, and was runner-up in both the individual and team competitions at the Junior World Championships the following year. After graduating from the university, he competed and achieved victory as part of the Men’s Fleuret Team at the 2020 Asia Championships. He ranks 32nd in the world.
Koki Kano:
Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1997. Graduated from the School of Sports Science at Waseda University in 2020. Began fleuret in his final year of elementary school, then switched to epee after winning a competition in high school. Won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Cup in Germany before placing third individually at the 2018 Asian Games. Kano was also an individual winner at the 2019 World Cup in Vancouver and won a bronze medal in the team competition at the 2020 World Cup in Canada.
