The Korean representative, Seoul Cosmos, fought against world-class rivals.
The NH Nonghyup Bank 2025 KXO 3x3 Hongcheon Light Quest was held on the 11th at the special court in Tori Forest City Forest Park, Hongcheon County, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province. After 12 teams were divided into 4 groups and went through the preliminaries, 8 teams advanced to compete in the tournament.
Seoul Cosmos, which participated as the Korean representative, achieved its goal of reaching the quarterfinals. Seoul lost to Sagamihara (Japan) with a score of 14-21 and did not advance to the semifinals.
In the first preliminary match, Seoul achieved a default win against Hangzhou (China). The champion of the Hongcheon Challenger 2025, Hangzhou (China), had to forfeit due to two injuries. In the second match, Seoul lost to Cheverny (France) with a score of 12-17 after a tough battle. With 1 win and 1 loss, Seoul advanced to the quarterfinals to face Sagamihara.
Seoul was at a height disadvantage but managed to keep the game competitive with speed. Seoul took the lead at 5-4. It was not easy as Sagamihara had 207 cm tall center Euros Kanic from Serbia holding strong. Euros even made a dunk.
In a situation where Seoul was trailing 5-8, Kang Byeong-jin suffered an injury to his face. Kang played until the end, showing his determination despite the injury. Seoul fought until the end but succumbed with a score of 14-21.
Another Korean representative, Hongcheon, was eliminated from the preliminaries with 2 losses. In the first match, Hongcheon put up a good fight but lost to the Dutch powerhouse, Withered Lecht, with a score of 15-20. In the second match, Hongcheon suffered a significant defeat to Singapore's jump shot with a score of 5-21.
Adrian Clayborn Jr. of Hongcheon delighted the audience with a spectacular dunk.
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