Japan national basketball player Rui Machida participated in the opening game of the American Women's Professional League, WNBA on the 6th, marking two goals and two assists in the debut game.
29-year-old Machida contributed to winning the silver medal as the command tower of the Japanese national team at the Tokyo Olympics last year, and was also selected as the All-Star Five announced by the FIBA = International Basketball Federation.
In February, he signed a contract with WNBA's Washington Mystics, the world's highest peak in women's basketball, and on the 6th, he participated in the season opening game with Indiana Fever at his home base, becoming the fourth Japanese player. He made his debut at WNBA.
Machida participated halfway from the remaining 4 minutes and 36 seconds of the first quarter, and immediately after that, he made a pass leading to a three-point shot of his teammate and marked his favorite assist.
She scored her first goal in the fourth quarter by cutting from a sharp dribble to the center of the goal, and her debut match was 16 minutes 57 seconds with 2 goals, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
The match was won by Mystics 84-70.
Machida recalled, "I was nervous about the match in an atmosphere different from that of Japan. Personally, it wasn't very good, and there were still some issues that I had to pass while I was at a loss."
On top of that, he said that he took the first step on the WNBA court, saying, "First of all, I want to do my best to make the best use of my personality in the team. I want to take on the challenge. "
The regular season of WNBA will be held until August, and Mystics, to which Machida belongs, will aim to win the championship for the first time in three seasons.