Leon Taira wins the 4th All Japan Tournament

Leon Aurelius Taira, Japanese player of Team StarVie, won the 4th All Japan Tournament with his partner Shungo Kusakabe last Sunday.

All Japan Tournament is the most important tournament of the year and it is considered even more important than the national ranking system. It is also the event that closes the regular season. This year the Japan Padel Association (JPA) worked hard to make it even more important because for the first time there was a prize money for the winners (both men and women categories) and they broadcasted all matches on its YouTube channel via Cisco Systems Japan.

4th All Japan Tournament

Leon, son of a Japanese mother and a Canadian father, beat alongside with his partner the undefeated Spanish coach and player, Asier Gago, who had won all previous editions of this tournament with different teammates.

The score was 2-6 / 6-3 / 6-2 coming back from 1 set down against the current champions and favourite couple to win the tournament again.

Leon, present and future of Japanese padel

Leon, one of the youngest players of the circuit (19 years old), joined Team StarVie in February 2020 when he still was a promise. At that time, he was ranked 13 and went to CAR StarVie to train. Since then, his progression has been astonishing, he has won 8 tournaments, has hit the first position in the National ranking, he is currently the couple number one together with his partner Shungo Kusakabe and last Sunday he won his first All Japan Tournament.

Leom, congratulations! We know how hard you have wordked to achive it!