Japan to send 15 players to Qualification Tournament

Just six of the 15 players were a part of the team when Japan won a shock silver medal at the Vancouver 2010 Games, and will be the core group trying to lead them back to the Paralympic winter stage.

Veteran forwards Kazuhiro Takahashi, Satoru Sudo and Daisuke Uehara will lead a 15-strong Japan team into Torino, Italy next month for the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Qualification Tournament.

Japan have submitted their roster for the tournament – at which six teams will fight for three spots at the Sochi 2014 Games – and it includes 11 forwards, four defencemen and two goalkeepers, who will be coached by Kojin Nakakita.

Just six of the 15 players were a part of the team when Japan won a shock silver medal at the Vancouver 2010 Games, and will be the core group trying to lead them back to the Paralympic winter stage.

Most recently, Japan finished in silver-medal position at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships B-Pool last March in Nagano, Japan. Germany defeated the host nation in the gold-medal game, and will again challenge them in Torino, along with Great Britain, Italy, Korea and Sweden.

Takahashi knotted eight goals and one assist earlier this year at the tournament in Nagano – leading all scorers – while Sudo had four goals and four assists.

Shinobu Fukushima and Mitsuru Nagase will split time between the posts for the Japanese team.

Here's the complete team roster for Japan:

Goalkeepers

Shinbou Fukushima

Mitsuru Nagase

Defencemen

Taimei Shiba

Satoru Sudo

Eiji Misawa

Tomohiko Maruo

Forwards

Wataru Horie

Mamoru Yoshikawa

Toshiyuki Nakamura

Mikio Annaka

Daisuke Uehara

Hideaki Ishii

Yoshihiro Shioya

Kazuhiro Takahashi

Masaharu Kumagai