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Shohei Otani. AP Yonhap News
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Shohei Otani. AP Yonhap News
While many speculations are pouring in about the wife of Shohei Ohtani (30, Los Angeles Dodgers), who surprised fans around the world with the news of his sudden marriage, a Japanese media outlet reported that Ohtani’s wife was a “former female basketball player.”
On the 1st, Otani met with reporters ahead of the American professional baseball Dodgers’ spring camp training held at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, USA, and introduced his wife, but kept her personal details strictly confidential.
He said, “My wife is an ordinary Japanese person. I met her 3-4 years ago and we got engaged last year.”
He said, “I only met my wife for a short period of time in Japan. “She only had indoor dates because if we met her outside, she would get loud,” he said. “Her wife rarely came to the U.S. during the season.” “She came here this year during spring training,” she said.
On this day, the Japanese media ‘News Post Seven’ quoted an American baseball reporter and reported, “Ohtani’s wife is a former basketball player, graduated from a prestigious private university, and is a beautiful 180cm tall player.”
The media introduced that this woman had been active on the world stage and had experience as a model. “She retired last year and even deleted her Instagram account,” she continued.
Japanese netizens speculated that this woman was former Japanese women’s basketball player Mamiko Tanaka (28). In the ‘Q&A’ section of Yahoo Japan, Japan’s largest search site, the question “Who will Shohei Otani marry?” ranks from 1st to 10th in terms of views in the professional baseball category. Netizens left many comments such as “Tanaka is the likely candidate” and “Tanaka appears to be her wife.”
Tanaka graduated from Waseda University in Japan and played in the center position for the Japanese women’s professional basketball team ‘Fujitsu Red Wave’ in 2019. In August 2021, she was selected as a candidate for the Japan national team, but she retired from playing after the 2022-2023 season.
Reporter Kim Min-ji
2024-03-01 12:51:34
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