Seoul Cosmo saved face with a victory over Japan.

The 'NH Nonghyup Bank FIBA 3x3 Hongcheon Challenger 2025' kicked off spectacularly at the Hongcheon Gymnasium on the 9th. This tournament, organized by the Korea 3x3 Basketball Federation (KXO), Hongcheon County, and Hongcheon County Council, is the first in the country to be held three consecutive years.

The only FIBA 3x3 professional circuit event in the country took place in Hongcheon on the 9th and 10th. Jeong Seong-jo, who became a hot topic by joining KBL Sono as the strongest player in 3x3 basketball in the country, participated in the tournament as a member of Seoul Cosmo along with Yun Seong-su, Lee Dong-yoon, and Kang Byeong-jin.

Seoul Cosmo defeated Ikebukuro of Japan 21-18 in the first match of Group B preliminaries. After being outmatched in height early on, Cosmo turned the game around in the second half with an explosion of outside shooting. Kang Byeong-jin and Jeong Seong-jo combined for four three-pointers, scoring 9 points and 7 points, respectively. Yun Seong-su added 3 points, and Lee Dong-yoon contributed 2 points.

In the second match of the Group B preliminaries, Seoul lost to Czech Poděbrady (2 wins) 16-21, finishing with 1 win and 1 loss, unfortunately failing to advance to the main draw. It was challenging for the 186cm Lee Dong-yoon to defend against the 206cm František Pusa. Seoul fought back with precise outside shooting. However, in the second half, Poděbrady's outside shooting took off, widening the score gap, which they couldn't keep up with. Pusa also delivered a dunk to clinch the victory.

The team's senior member Lee Dong-yoon (39) said, "It’s regrettable that we lost, but we fought well. We are an underdog with a short history. We faced off against physically strong European players as much as possible and played a good game. It’s encouraging that we beat Japan, which played with two foreign players," he smiled.

Before the tournament, Lee Geun-jun (20, Sono) got injured, preventing his participation. Instead, Jeong Seong-jo joined and performed well. Lee Dong-yoon expressed satisfaction, saying, "It would have been nice if Geun-jun had come, but Seong-jo is also a player I've originally worked with. Seong-jo exceeded expectations sufficiently."

3x3 basketball players are challenging the global stage under difficult conditions. Many players have their own professions in addition to being professionals. Lee Dong-yoon noted, "I run an enterprise. I’ll be 40 years old next year. There are players in their 40s in Japan, so I felt a sense of camaraderie. I have a sense of duty to build a strong Cosmo team. It would be great to have good big men or forwards,” expressing his passion.

Seoul Cosmo has it better than other teams as it has secured several sponsors. Sponsors of Seoul Cosmo include the Georgetown University Alumni Association, PortOne, Cheonil Energy, Yonsei Dajunhan Dental Clinic, Granologe, and Zamst.

Lee Dong-yoon remarked, "I hope Kang Byeong-jin and Lee Geun-jun represent the national team in 3x3 at next year’s Asian Games. We are working hard toward that goal. I hope South Korea performs well in 3x3."

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