MELUN, France (Kyodo) Japan's Beijing Olympic individual foil silver medalist Yuki Ota tasted defeat in his opening match against three-time world champion Peter Joppich of Germany at the elite Fleuret Masters in France on Saturday.
Joppich avenged his loss to Ota in the Beijing quarterfinals with a 15-10 win before going on to beat compatriot and Beijing champion Benjamin Kleibrink in the final of the tournament that features the world's best eight fencers.
"Just being invited to the Masters is something to be happy about so I would liked to have had more matches," said Ota.
"I feel that some part of me has gone a bit soft since the Olympics. Hopefully I can find my fire again during this trip."