Kazuyasu Minobe

Kazuyasu Minobe (見延 和靖, Minobe Kazuyasu, born 15 July 1987) is a Japanese male épée fencer, individual bronze medallist at the 2015 and 2016 Asian Championships.

Kazuyasu Minobe
Personal information
Nickname(s)Kazu (カズ)
Born (1987-07-15) 15 July 1987
Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Country Japan
SportFencing
Weaponépée
Handleft-handed
National coachOleksandr Horbachuk
ClubNexus
Head coachHiroshi Hashimoto
FIE rankingcurrent ranking

Career

Minobe's first sport was volleyball. He took up fencing in high school, on his father's advice. He made his international debut in 2008 and joined the Japanese national team, with whom he won a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and a silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. At the Asian Championships he also earned three team bronze medals in 2012, 2014 and 2015, doubling with an individual bronze that year.

In the 2015–16 season he won the Tallinn Grand Prix, his first podium in the World Cup, after overcoming World No. 1 Gauthier Grumier.[1] Along with a bronze medal at the 2016 Asian Championships, this result pushed him into a top 2 ranking in the Asian zone, allowing him to qualify to the 2016 Summer Olympics.[2]

References
  1. Alessandro Gennari (14 November 2015). "Il Giappone si prende Tallinn, Garozzo il podio". Pianeta Scherma (in Italian).
  2. "Fencer Ota targets gold in Olympic swan song". The Japan Times. 30 July 2016.
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