Rui Machida, who challenges the American women's professional league of basketball, WNBA, attended the team's press conference on the 25th and said, "I want to show you a place that is world-class even if it is small."

Machida is 29 years old from Hokkaido.



He contributed to winning the silver medal as the command tower of the Japanese national team at the Tokyo Olympics last year, and was selected as the All-Star Five announced by the FIBA ​​= International Basketball Federation.



Machida signed a contract with WNBA's "Washington Mystics," the world's premier basketball player, and she attended her enrollment meeting in Washington on the 25th.



At the press conference, Machida said, "I want to contribute to the victory that the team is aiming for. I think that WNBA has a lot of top-level players. I think it's difficult to play with overseas players, but I have more fun." I talked about enthusiasm.



Regarding his role, "The team wants me to play the same as when I was the Japanese national team, and I want them to be positively aware of the score. When I play in the match, I want to make use of my speed. I want to be aware of the up-tempo development. "



Based on the experience of the Tokyo Olympics, he said, "The Olympics were a tournament that gave me confidence, but I never thought I would get an offer from the WNBA. I think I'm small, but even if it's small, it's world-class. I want to show you, "he promised to play an active role in the new world.



Machida took a photo before her press conference and showed off her brand new uniform with number "13".



Her team will start the season on the 6th of next month, and Machida is aiming to make his debut at WNBA, the fourth Japanese player.