Domestic and foreign 3×3 powerhouses will gather in Gyeongju, the “Thousand-Year Old Town.”
KXO will hold “NH Nonghyup Bank 2026 KXO 3×3 Race STOP” for two days from the 12th to the 13th at a special court in the parking lot of Daereungwon, Gyeongju. This competition will be held in four categories: U15, U18, men’s open division, and KXO STOP.
Hosted by KXO (Chairman Park Gun-yeon) and Gyeongju City Basketball Association (Chairman Kang Tae-won), and sponsored by Gyeongju City (Mayor Joo Nak-young) and Gyeongju City Sports Association (Chairman Yeo Jun-ki), the competition is expected to be a stage to showcase high-quality 3×3 basketball to domestic fans ahead of the NH Nonghyup Bank FIBA 3×3 Hongcheon Challenger 2026,” which will be held from the 18th to the 20th.”
As it is held in Gyeongju, the venue for the competition is also very special. The competition will be held at Daerungwon, where 23 Silla-era tombs are gathered on a large area of 126,500 square meters. Daerungwon has the 13th King Michu’s Tomb, Hwangnam Daechong, where a huge Pyo Hyung-bun catches the eye, and Cheonmachong, where you can look inside the tomb.
The competition, which will be held at Daerungwon, where you can see Korea’s cultural heritage at a glance, is expected to be a great opportunity to enjoy Gyeongju’s cultural heritage to the fullest just by participating in the competition.
In this competition, Czech Liberts and Japanese Ninja Airs will compete fiercely with Korean teams in the KXO STOP, which will determine the qualification for the FIBA 3×3 Challenger in 2027.
Reverets, who is composed of Czech men’s 3×3 national team, will compete in the KXO STOP once again after last year to win, while Ninja Airs, which includes Japan’s 3×3 national team Yuki Nakanishi, will be newly founded this year and debut in Korea.
In Korea, Hongcheon, joined by David Lehman from Hamburg, Germany, and Adrian Claybon Jr. from the U.S. NCAA1, will compete with overseas teams.
Liberts, Ninja Ayres and Hongcheon will also participate in the Hongcheon Challenger, which will be held from the 18th to the 20th, and will focus on securing tickets to international competitions for next season in Korea for about a week.
Ordinary participants are also enthusiastic. Applications for participation were all closed within about five minutes of the start of application, and about 80 teams were waiting for the U18 division. In line with the enthusiasm for participation, KXO decided to expand the size of participation in the U18 and men’s open divisions to provide more teams with opportunities to participate.
The entire game of “NH Nonghyup Bank 2026 KXO 3×3 Gyeongju STOP” will be broadcast live on YouTube, and major games will be recorded and broadcast on KBS NSPORTS.
[MIN JUN KU, MK Sports Reporter]
Source link
