Kaito Oda (Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho), who won the world junior masters who will decide the top of wheelchair tennis under the age of 18 in 2020 at the youngest age of 13, held a press conference online on the 28th.
In late April last year, at the age of 14, he won first place in the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Junior Ranking (boys) and participated in senior competitions. He has also grown rapidly to 9th place in the men’s world ranking. Oda said, “I started playing tennis,” said Oda, who graduated from junior high school this spring and went on to a correspondence high school to secure more practice time, and decided to turn professional at this time when the support system was in place. I am happy to be a professional player I have longed for since I was 15 years old. I want to do my best to become a hero of sick children. “
Born May 8, 2006. At the age of nine, when he was enthusiastic about soccer, he was found to have osteosarcoma in his left hip and underwent surgery. You can walk a short distance, but use a wheelchair for a long distance. He was interested in watching the video of the London Paralympics Wheelchair Tennis Men’s Singles Final, where Shingo Kunieda (Uniqlo) won the gold medal while he was in the hospital, and started the competition immediately after leaving the hospital.
The current practice base is Gifu International Tennis Club. Coach Hiroya Kumada, who has been instructed so far, will serve as a full-time coach and will work harder for more fulfilling practice.
He was selected to represent Japan in the 2022 BNP Paribas World Team Cup (WTC), which will open in Portugal on May 2, and is scheduled to participate in the French Open, one of the four major tournaments, in June. .. The number of entries in the wheelchair tennis section of the Grand Slam, where only the world’s top rankers can participate, is “8” for both men and women, but this season’s French Open was expanded to “12”, and Oda also won the right to participate. “The goal of the WTC is to win. I want to play well as a representative to liven up Japan. I want to do my best to win because the French Open clay is a good surface,” he said with enthusiasm.
(Interview / text / Miharu Araki)
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Author: Miharu ArakiMA SPORTS representative, writer
