May 8, 2021
Nako Motohashi, one of Japan’s top point guards, was practicing with the provisional national team in November when she suddenly felt pain in her knee on a drive to the basket.
After being attended to by team staff and doctors, Motohashi received the bad news shortly after the injury she had suffered ligament damage in her right knee.
At the time, Motohashi thought quite naturally the injury had shut the door on her chances of competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
Once she found out that was not necessarily the case, Motohashi resolved to do everything she could to play at the Summer Games.
Dec 19, 2020
Ramu Tokashiki, the Japan women’s national basketball team’s top player, has a torn ACL in her right knee her team, Eneos Sunflowers, announced on Saturday.
The 193-cm center/forward suffered the injury during Eneos’ 78-59 win over the Fujitsu Red Wave in the quarterfinals of the All-Japan Championship at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Tokashiki is without question the nation’s best player and had been expected to be a key component of the national team at next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
The injury deals a major blow to Japan’s chances of winning gold on home soil next year. The Akatsuki Five was already without another key player as Haneda Vickies point guard Nako Motohashi injured her ACL during a training camp in November.