(Beijing, April 18) In the men's team foil classification 5-8 held this afternoon at the Fencing Hall of the National Convention Centre, Japan beat the United States 45-41 to face China for the fifth place.

The US team opened the thrilling match with 5-1 but Japan soon outhit their opponents with 10-9. The fourth bout saw the score tied at 16-16 and 17-17 and it was the US who took the initiative to attack and finished the bout 20-19. In the sixth and seventh bouts Japan led 30-29 and 35-33 respectively, and towards the end of the eighth when Japan led by one hit the US team received a controversial hit to make it 39-39. At the critical moment Japan scored one more hit to finish the bout 40-39. In the decisive ninth bout, the Japanese fencers managed to outdo their US counterparts 45-41 to enter the next round of competition.

In another classification 5-8 match this afternoon between China and France, the host team edged France 45-44 to qualify for the next round.