Takurō Yamashita

Takurō Yamashita
Date of birth	May 22, 1988
place of birth	Kushiro , Japan
size	183 cm
Weight	82 kg
position	striker
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
2005-2006	Komazawa University Tomakomai High School
2009-2011	Waseda University
since 2011	Tōhoku Free Blades

Takurō Yamashita ( Japanese 山下 拓 郎 , Yamashita Takurō ; born May 22, 1988 in Kushiro , Hokkaidō ) is a Japanese ice hockey player who has been under contract with the Tōhoku Free Blades from the Asia League Ice Hockey since 2011 .

Career

Takurō Yamashita began his career at the Komazawa University high school in Tomakomai , which has regularly won the national high school championships in ice hockey since the 1970s.

The striker played for the Waseda University team from 2009 to 2011 . He then moved to the Asia League Ice Hockey to the Tōhoku Free Blades , for which he has been active since then. With the Free Blades he won the title in the Asia League in 2013 through a success in the play-off finals against the Ōji Eagles and in 2015 through a win in the final series against Anyang Halla .

International

For Japan, Yamashita took part in the junior division of the 2006 U18 World Championship and the 2006 U20 World Championship in Division I. He played for the Japanese men's team at the Division I World Championships in 2012 , 2013 , 2014 , 2015 and 2016 . In 2014, shortly before the end of regular time, he scored the 3-2 winning goal against Ukraine , which kept the Japanese in the promotion race towards the top division. In the end, however, the Japanese missed their return to the upper house of ice hockey with a final 4-5 defeat after a penalty shootout against Hungary .

Yamashita was also on the ice in the qualifications for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and 2018 in Pyeongchang . However, the Japanese failed in qualifying for 2014 in the first qualifying round despite home advantage - the tournament took place in Nikko - by a 1: 2 defeat in the decisive game against Great Britain . In qualifying for 2018, the second qualifying round was reached, but it was the end of the line with three defeats. At the Winter Asian Games 2017 he finished third with the Japanese behind Kazakhstan and South Korea .

Achievements and Awards

• 2013 won the Asia League Ice Hockey with the Tōhoku Free Blades
• 2015 won the Asia League Ice Hockey with Anyang Halla
• 2017 bronze medal at the Winter Asian Games

Asia League statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	7th	272	60	118	178	212
Playoffs	5	29	10	15th	25th	47

(Status: end of the 2017/18 season)

Web links

• Takurō Yamashita at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Takurō Yamashita at eurohockey.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Match report of the game Ukraine - Japan at iihf.com, accessed on May 6, 2014.