The training camp just before the Japan National Baseball Team for the Tokyo Olympics will start in Sendai City on the 19th, and Masahiro Tanaka, the oldest pitcher of the team and will play for the first time in eight years, said, "For the gold medal, the team will be strong. I want to be, "he said with enthusiasm.

On the 19th of the first day of the training camp, the Japanese national team held a meeting in the dormitory in the morning, and Director Atsunori Inaba said, "I want you to feel the joy of playing baseball and go to the Olympics. I don't. I want everyone here to unite and fight as one. "



Since the first and second rounds of the qualifying league will be played from noon, the players practiced for about 3 hours from 1:30 pm in the strong sunlight to get used to the heat.



Of these, the oldest member, 32-year-old pitcher Tanaka, who wore the representative uniform for the first time in eight years, missed both games of the All-Star game that was held until the 17th due to poor physical condition that seems to be a side reaction of vaccination. However, on the 19th, I played catch with Softbank pitcher Kodai Senga and moved my body while talking to each other with a relaxed look.



Pitcher Tanaka, who has only experienced the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said, "I am very happy to be able to wear the national team uniform again. I think what is being done is different. I would like to do it if I can help the team as well as throwing for the gold medal. "



On the other hand, the youngest player on the team, 21-year-old Yakult Munetaka Murakami, received advice from coach Inaba about batting stance and weight transfer after the overall practice, and silently transferred.



Murakami said, "I was able to practice with a good sense of tension. I'm not in a good batting condition right now, so I'd like to try and error so that I can improve the condition according to the tournament."



After practicing, Inaba said, "I'm finally feeling better. I want to build a team day by day, make good adjustments, and go to the actual stage."



The Japanese national team will move to Fukushima after playing a warm-up game on the 24th and 25th of this month, and will face the first match at the Fukushima Prefectural Azuma Stadium on the 28th.

Yuki Yanagita Feeling uncomfortable on the right flank

Yuki Yanagita, a Japanese national baseball team player, has forgotten batting practice on the 19th, the first day of the training camp, due to a sense of discomfort on his right flank.



I felt uncomfortable in the second round of the All-Star Game on the 17th, so when I was examined at a hospital in Sendai City on the 18th, there was no abnormality in the bones, so in the practice on the 19th I used catch balls and outfields. I participated in the defensive practice of.



Director Inaba said, "I felt like I could do it, but I didn't overdo it, so I took care of it. I told him that it's okay to throw, run, and catch."