Hongcheon, the first Korean 3×3 team to compete on the European stage, has finalized its bracket.
The Korea 3×3 Basketball Organization (KXO) will send four players to the FIBA 3×3 Orléans Challenger 2024 in Orléans, France, from April 22-23, including Nam Gung-soo (formerly of E-Land), Lee Jung-je (formerly of E-Land), Jeon Jung-min (formerly of Chung-Ang University), and Han Jung-cheol (Busan Clean Shot). 먹튀검증 Hongcheon secured a direct qualification to the main draw of the 12-team tournament.
KXO, which began exchanges with the French Basketball Association through the ‘NH Bank FIBA 3×3 Hongcheon Challenger 2023′ held in 2023, hosted the French men’s 3×3 national team for a domestic training camp earlier this year and secured their participation in the Orléans Challenger.
Qualifying for the Orléans Challenger is a big deal for the Korean 3×3 program. Throughout the history of Korean 3×3, which began in earnest in 2017, no Korean 3×3 team has ever competed in a 3×3 international tournament in Europe. KXO has been in constant contact with France to overcome this limitation, and the team’s participation in the Orléans Challenger has been a success.
The Orléans Challenger will feature 16 European powerhouses from France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Israel, including Hongcheon. After securing a direct qualification to the main draw, Hongtian will be paired in Group B with Laudonvaris (Lithuania) and Plunge (Lithuania) for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Seeded second in the tournament, the Lithuanian national men’s 3×3 team is a world powerhouse, having qualified for the men’s 3×3 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and is currently ranked fourth in the world. Laudonvaris was also the winner of last year’s Hongtian Challenger.
Plunge is a dark horse, ranked 28th in the world and led by 6-foot-10 center Elimantas Gilius. He was a member of the Lithuanian national team at the 2022 U23 3×3 World Cup, where he led his country to a fourth-place finish.
Both of the teams Hongcheon will face are world-class, but the squad is determined not to be intimidated as they depart for the tournament on Sept. 19. “I think we are the weakest team in the tournament, and the gap between Europe and Korea is huge,” said captain Nam Goong Jun-soo. But if we don’t challenge ourselves, we can’t improve. We will take pride in being the first Korean 3×3 team to compete in a 3×3 international tournament in Europe, and we will try to bite our opponents in every match.”
Hongcheon, the only Asian team competing in the tournament, will open their European campaign at 12:15 a.m. and 3:45 a.m. on March 23rd. All games will be streamed live on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube channel.