Women’s professional basketball (WKBL) Incheon Shinhan Bank’s ‘veteran’ Han Chae-jin (39) is on the verge of breaking the record for the oldest player ever.
Shinhan Bank will play an away match between Busan BNK and Shinhan Bank SOL 2022-23 Women’s Professional Basketball Regular League at Sajik Indoor Gymnasium on the 27th at 7pm.
Today marks the 38th year and 319th day since Han Chae-jin was born. If Han Chae-jin participates in this game, she will surpass Tina Thompson (38 years, 314 days), who played for KDB Life Insurance in the 2013-14 season, and write the record for the oldest player in WKBL history.
Han Chae-jin, who has not missed the starting position this season as a professional player in her 21st year, is expected to record the oldest player in the match if there are no sudden changes.
Han Chae-jin was not a player who saw the light from the beginning. After graduating from Seongdeok Women’s Award in Seoul, she started her professional career at Hyundai Hyperion (predecessor of Shinhan Bank) in 2003, but could not get a place because of her seniors.
Then, in the 2008-09 season when he moved the team to Kumho Life Insurance, he jumped to the starting rank, playing an average of 26 minutes. Before the 2012 London Olympics, she had the honor of wearing the Taegeuk mark for the first time in 9 years since her debut.
During his time at Kumho Life Insurance, his team performance was not good, but he took on the role of a housekeeper by taking on dirty jobs. He also received the Best Player Award in the 2015-16 season and the 2017-18 season.
This season, he ranked first in the league with a 2-point shooting success rate of 48.8%, and announced that he was healthy with an average of 10.57 points, and won the Model Player Award for the third time in his career. 토토사이트
In the 2020-21 season, he ranked first in the 3-point shot success rate (39.3%), and in the 2021-22 season, he recorded an average of 1.6 steals per game and became the king of steals.
Han Chae-jin, who was not flashy but always steady, recorded an average playing time of more than 30 minutes in 13 consecutive seasons from the 2009-10 season to last season.
This season, when he is 40 years old in Korean age, he has played in 18 of the team’s 19 games and is on the court for an average of 25 minutes and 24 seconds.
Han Chae-jin’s remaining dream is to win. In the early days of his joining, he experienced three championships with Shinhan Bank, but he was not the starting player at the time, so he could not fully enjoy the joy of winning.
From the 2019-20 season, when Han Chae-jin returned to Shinhan Bank as the main axis of the team, Asan Woori Bank, Yongin Samsung Life Insurance, and Cheongju KB lifted the championship in turn.
Looking at it calmly, there is not much chance that Shinhan Bank will win this season as well.
Currently, Shinhan Bank is in 4th place with 10 wins and 9 losses. They are fighting a fierce battle for third place with Samsung Life Insurance (11-9), but even in the postseason, leading Woori Bank (18-2) is so strong that it is not easy to win the championship game.
However, even if he does not necessarily win, it is a joy for Han Chae-jin just to be able to exercise with juniors who are 10 to 20 years apart.
The path of Han Chae-jin, who continues to move forward without setting a destination, is expected to soon become a new history of women’s basketball.