Hiroki Ueno

Hiroki Ueno
Date of birth	April 8, 1986
place of birth	Nagano , Japan
size	178 cm
Weight	81 kg
position	striker
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
2002-2005	Kushiro
2005-2009	Waseda University
2009-2011	High1
2011-2015	Nikko Ice Bucks
since 2015	Nippon Paper Cranes

Hiroki Ueno ( Japanese 上 野 拓 紀 , Ueno Hiroki ; born April 8, 1986 in Nagano , Honshū ) is a Japanese ice hockey player who has been under contract with Nippon Paper Cranes from the Asia League Ice Hockey since 2015 .

Career

Hiroki Ueno began his career as a hockey player in Kushiro , where he played in a youth team. In 2005 he went to Waseda University , for whose ice hockey team he was active until 2009. The striker then moved to the South Korean club High1 from Chuncheon in the Asia League Ice Hockey . After two years on the Korean peninsula, he returned to Japan in 2011 and has since played for the Nikkō Ice Bucks . In the 2014/15 season he was selected as the top scorer and top scorer of the Asia League in their All-Star team. In 2015 he switched to Nippon Paper Cranes .

International

For Japan, Ueno has already participated in the U-18 World Championships in 2003 and 2004 and the U-20 World Championships in 2004 , 2005 and 2006 . At the U20 Junior World Cup in 2005, he succeeded with the Japanese at the Division II tournament in Bucharest after relegation the previous year to return to Division I. Ueno made his debut in the men's national team at the 2006 World Cup , at the his team started in Group A of Division I. He was also on the ice for his country in Division I at the 2007 , 2010 , 2012 , 2013 , 2014 , 2015 , 2016 and 2017 World Championships . At the 2014 World Cup, he gave the Japanese team a 4-3 lead in the last game against Hungary five and a half minutes before the end of regular time - a result that would have been enough to move up to the top division. Since the Asians not only had to accept the equalizer a good minute before the end, but also lost the game after a penalty shoot-out, Austria's selection rose instead .

At the Winter Asian Games 2011 in Astana , he and the Japanese team won the silver medal behind hosts Kazakhstan . At the Winter Asian Games 2017 he finished third with the Japanese behind Kazakhstan and South Korea . He also took part in the qualifying tournaments for the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 and in Pyeongchang in 2018 .

Achievements and Awards

• 2015 top scorer, top scorer and member of the all-star team of the Asia League Ice Hockey

International

• 2005 Promotion to Division I at the U20 Junior World Championship of Division II
• 2011 silver medal at the Asian Winter Games
• 2017 bronze medal at the Winter Asian Games
• 2017 Best Assists in the Asian Winter Games

Asia League statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	9	353	219	202	421	261
Playoffs	4th	20th	9	8th	17th	16

(Status: end of the 2017/18 season)

Web links

• Hiroki Ueno at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Personal Blog (Japanese)