Shinhan Bank Women's Basketball, Japan National Team Member Tanimura 1st Pick
Rika Tanimura (30, 185cm), a former member of the Japanese women's national basketball team, was honored with the first overall pick in the Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) 2024-2025 season Asian quota player draft.
Shinhan Bank of Incheon selected Tanimura as the first overall pick at the Asian quota draft event held in Tokyo, Japan on the 23rd.
Standing at 185 cm tall, Tanimura played for the Japanese national team in the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup qualifiers. 카지노사이트
Shinhan Bank coach Gunadan said, "She showed a good performance during two weeks of training with our team last year," and added, "She recently suffered a knee injury, but if she takes care of her knees and builds up her body, her performance will improve."
Tanimura said, "I have been rehabilitating since I ruptured my cruciate ligament in my knee in August 2023," and "It was difficult due to my first major injury, but I am really happy to be playing basketball in Korea again."
Busan BNK, which won the second round, selected Iijima Saki (32, 173 cm).
Iijima, who can play shooting guard and small forward, played for Aishin in the Japanese W-League last season.
The third to sixth rounds were Bucheon Hana One Q's Yurina Watabe (27, 166 cm), Yongin Samsung Life's Mitsuki Hirano (26, 166 cm), Cheongju KB's Moe Nagata (27, 174 cm), and Asan Woori Bank's Momona Miyasaka (29, 163 cm).
In the second round, Woori Bank's Natsuki Sunagawa (28, 162 cm), KB's Moe Shida (23, 166 cm), and Hana One Q's Yuzuki Ishida (25, 168 cm) were nominated.
Ishida, who was chosen last, said in Korean, "Thank you for choosing me.
I will continue to work hard to be a strength to the team."
In an interview after the draft, Ishida said, "I like Korea, so I watched a lot of dramas," and "I also like kimchi stew. I want to be a player who works hard on defense and adds energy to offense at Hana One Q," introducing himself in Korean as well.
The WKBL decided to introduce the Asian quota player system starting in the 2024-2025 season in April of this year, and decided to target Japanese national players, including players from the Japanese W-League.
A team can have up to two players, and both players cannot play at the same time.
