“After announcing my retirement, I cried profusely with the players beforehand. So he thought he wouldn’t cry at the last match… .”
Shinhan Bank Han Chae-jin (40), who left her court after setting the record for the oldest female professional basketball player ever (39 years old), looked back on the moment of her retirement calmly in an interview with the World Daily on the 15th.
“Before the playoffs (PO) started, I told the players I was retiring. I cried too, and my colleagues cried too. Maybe that’s why the first match between Asan Woori Bank and PO was calm. It was okay because I already cried. After losing the first game, all I could think was, ‘I have to win the next game.’”
Han Chae-jin introduced that she did not feel any special emotions even before the second game with Woori Bank. “When I went to the second game, I thought, ‘Today could be the last’, but it turned out surprisingly well. Retirement didn’t bother me too much. But at the end of the game, my teammates told me, ‘Sister, you have to leave now’. From then on, I started to shed tears thinking ‘You’re thinking of me’ and I was put in with 20 seconds left in the game. But when I heard Coach Seong-Woo Seong-Woo shouting (‘Pass to Han Chae-Jin’) from the Woori Bank bench, I couldn’t stop crying because I got the feeling, ‘Even the opposing team is taking care of me’. Thank you so much.”
Even after the game was over, Han Chae-jin’s tears did not stop. “I wanted to calm down a bit, but suddenly Lee Gyeong-eun started crying next to me. He always said he was fine. Lee Kyung-eun, who was thought to be calm and strong, suddenly cried… . I have been playing with Lee Kyung-eun for over 10 years. He remembered the days when he played for Guri KDB and the difficult moments, so he cried again.”
Han Chae-jin shed tears even after receiving a special award at the last WKBL ceremony. “I didn’t even know there was a special award. Actually, I decided to retire, but it was a secret. Only some players knew. But when he suddenly gave me an award and went up to the podium, I couldn’t help but cry. I couldn’t tell the team that I was retiring because I still had a contract and a PO, but they gave me an award.” 먹튀검증
What was the happiest moment for Han Chae-jin, who has been a pro for 20 years? Han Chae-jin replied, ‘The days when I played basketball at Shinhan Bank’ without hesitation for a moment. He said, “When he was young, he only had a strong idea that he had to be good at basketball. He is obsessed with winning and losing, and if he just tries to do well by saying ‘I shouldn’t be wrong with my play’, he won’t be able to enjoy it. Then he came to Shinhan Bank, and at that time he really enjoyed playing basketball. In particular, there were many players of my age, and my hands and feet matched well. When we played basketball at Shinhan Bank, we thought of each other even without talking. So it was fun. After the game, we ate delicious food and played together, and it was really nice. ”
Han Chae-jin, who has put an end to her life as a basketball player, is still undecided on which path to take. He said, “Honestly, if he had retired early, he would have wanted to do something related to basketball. But he really doesn’t like basketball, so he doesn’t have any other thoughts. First of all, I want to rest. I’m happy. Now that I am married, I must be faithful to my family.”
Han Chae-jin is scheduled to have a wedding with an ordinary office worker on the 7th. “Her wedding photos were taken after the season ended, so I haven’t seen them yet. Her honeymoon is thinking of going to Bali.”
Han Chae-jin, who played an active part in women’s professional basketball for 20 years and presented laughter and emotion to her fans. The interview ended with her cheering on the future of Han Chae-jin.