As expected, the gap between Korean basketball and world powerhouses was too wide.

The NH Bank FIBA 3×3 Hongcheon Challenger 2024 was held on May 11 and 12 at the Hongcheon Tori Forest Urban Forest Park in Hongcheon, Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do. Sixteen 3×3 teams from around the world competed in the event.

World powerhouses such as the United States (Princeton), Latvia (Adage), the Netherlands (Utrecht), and Germany (Düsseldorf) participated. It is the only international 3×3 basketball tournament held in Korea this year. Korea was represented by four teams: 카지노 Seoul, Busan All One Bank, Hamo Jinju, and Budget Hanwool.

It’s a valuable experience to have world-class players in your backyard, especially for Korean teams that don’t have many opportunities to play against foreign teams, and the Hongchul Challenger will help them improve their skills.

As it turned out, the gap between Korean basketball and the rest of the world was wide. None of the four Korean teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the main tournament. The only time a South Korean team beat a foreign team was a 21-18 victory in Davao City, Philippines. In the rest of the matches, South Korea was swept.

Busan suffered a 2-21 defeat against Australia’s Nunawading. Kim Jin-tae and Ha Seung-yoon scored one point each for the team. Hamo Jin-ju put up a good fight, playing two full matches with only three players and no substitutes, but suffered two losses.

Seoul, which featured 1-3 in the domestic rankings Kim Jung-yeon, Jung Sung-jo, Yoon Sung-soo, and Lee Young-seok, secured two wins in the preliminary round, beating Jinju (21-14) and Davao City (21-18). However, Seoul lost 10-21 to Düsseldorf (Germany) in the main draw and fell 3-22 to Utsunomiya (Japan) in the quarterfinals.

After finishing first in the KXO and advancing directly to the main draw, Budget Hanul was Korea’s hope. However, Budget Hanwoo fell 13-21 to strong favorite Princeton, which also has a member of the US National Team. Bang Sung-yoon led the way with nine points, but it wasn’t enough. Budget Hanwool ended the tournament with a 12-21 loss in the second game against Latvia Adaji. Bang hit 3 of 10 three-pointers and finished with six points.

“Honestly, there is a gap between Korean basketball and the world between high school and professional level. Our team is the top team in Korea, but it’s a frog in the well. Foreign teams are better than Korean teams not only in terms of individual skills but also in terms of physical strength and organization.”

That’s why the Hongcheon Challenger, where they can play against world-class teams at home, is so important. “The opportunity to play against world-class teams is invaluable,” said Bang Sung-yoon. I’m glad I finished the tournament without getting injured,” said Bang.