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Tanaka’s Replacement Officially Named
Yesterday, Tanaka Ryuunosuke was injured in the quarterfinal game. Today, the result of his scans are known and his replacement has been named by coach Nekomata.
Yesterday, Japan’s Tanaka Ryuunosuke visibly dislocated his knee (full story here). Today, the result of his scans were made public.
The scans show that in addition to a dislocated knee, Tanaka has experienced microtears on his patellar ligament. While this, of course, isn’t ideal there were speculations of much worse scenarios.
This, however, means that Tanaka is definitively out of this years Olympics. He is expected to remain in the Olympic village with the team and attend the games, although it will be from the spectator seats from now on.
Should Japan surpass expectations further and win a medal, he is expected to receive one as well.
This isn’t Japan’s first injury. Before the tournament, star player Ushijima Wakatoshi suffered an ACL tear and has not been able to play at all.
The question everyone has been asking is: ‘Who will replace Tanaka on the team?’ Nekomata was, of course, limited to the players named in the preliminary squad which left him with the choice between Goshiki Tsutomu, Daishou Suguru, Yamamoto Taketora, Haiba Lev, and Asahi Azumane.
At the press conference this morning, he finally revealed that he has chosen Yamamoto Taketora as Tanaka’s replacement.
Nekomata has previously been criticized for including both of them in the squad as some experts see it as redundant for both Tanaka and Yamamoto to be on one team. However, those same experts now say that Yamamoto is the natural replacement for Tanaka. He will bring many of the same strengths as was lost with Tanaka’s injury.
Yamamoto has given the following statement regarding the situation: “Of course I am happy that I’ll have the chance to represent my country. I am sad that it comes at the cost of one of my best friends.”
Tanaka also gave a statement in regards to his replacement: “I’m sad of course, but if anyone can be as awesome as me out there it’s Tora [Yamamoto Taketora].” Tanaka is known for keeping his head up and spreading good energy to his teammates and it seems he hasn’t lost this ability even after his injury.
Yamamoto Taketora’s first game will be the semi-final on the 7th of August against the reigning champions from Denmark.