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Tom Hovasse HC and Wheelchair Basketball Renshi Chokai talk. The common point of winning the silver medal is “Challenge” | Basketball | Shueisha’s sports magazine Sportiva official website web Sportiva

Tom Hovasse HC x Renshi Chokai
Basketball dialogue (first part)

It has been about half a year since the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics ended. Now that the new year has arrived, athletes who have won a total of 109 medals in Oripara are taking the next step toward the next stage.

Renshi Chokai and Tom Hovasse head coach who talked this time

Tom Hovasse head coach (HC / at that time) of the women’s Japanese national team who brought the silver medal to the Japanese basketball world for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, and Renshi Chokai of the Japanese men’s wheelchair basketball team who also grabbed the silver medal. Mr. Hovasse was appointed as the HC of the Japan Men’s National Team in September immediately after the Olympics, and has begun to build a new team for the World Cup co-sponsored in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan in 2023. Toriumi has also begun a new challenge for the two “World Cups (” U23 “under 23 years old and full representative)” scheduled to be held this year.

HC and players-The two of them, who have had similar experiences through “basketball” in different positions and still do not stop challenging the world, from looking back on the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to the 2024 Paris Games. He talked about his thoughts.

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――Toriumi said, “I don’t really think about basketball when I’m off.” Did you see the Tokyo Olympics when the Japan Women’s Basketball National Team won the silver medal?

Renshi Chokai(the following,Toriumi) Of course I saw it.

Tom Hovasse(the following,Hovasse) thank you.

ToriumiI was paying attention to women’s basketball because there was Monica Okoye. She had once worked with her and saw her friends as if they were at the Olympics. However, while watching the match, she felt that not only her but also the Japanese women’s national team were showing their full potential. There is a feeling of fighting as a team with various things, such as set pieces or formations, which is what we have in common with wheelchair basketball. I had a sense of intimacy that each of them fulfilled their respective roles and was similar to us.

――The scene where Okoye was harshly spoken by Hovasse HC was broadcast many times, but did you mind that?

ToriumiI was often scolded or even scolded by my coach, so I didn’t mind that. Rather, I think that such a relationship, that is, the relationship between a player and a coach, is an absolutely necessary element for fighting together.

HovasseI talk to athletes from different sports, and I’m surprised and happy to hear that. For about five years before the Tokyo Olympics, I’ve been thinking only about the Japan Women’s National Team and its players. That’s why I’ve been thinking about what to do and what’s missing. I’m glad that other athletes watch our game and say so after getting results like this one.

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