It’s a brilliant lineup that literally reminds me of the ‘mini 3×3 World Cup’. Hongcheon Challenger, the only “FIBA 3×3 Pro Circuit” in Korea, is set to hold a three-day 3×3 festival.
KXO (Chairman Park Geon-yeon), Hongcheon-gun (Gun Governor Shin Young-jae), Hongcheon-gun Council (Chairman Chung Kwan-kyo), and Hongcheon-gun Sports Council (Chairman Shin Eun-seop) will hold the NH Nonghyup Bank FIBA 3×3 Hongcheon Challenger 2026 (Hongcheon Challenger) and NH Nonghyup Bank 2025 KXO 3×3 Hongcheon SUPER STOP (Hongcheon SUPER STOP) at the Hongcheon K Convention Center in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon State from the 18th to the 20th.
The Hongcheon Challenger, which first began in 2023, will be held for four consecutive years until this year. It is the only FIBA 3×3 Pro Circuit to be held in the country in 2026, and the FIBA 3×3 Pro Circuit consists of a world tour and a challenger.
The Hongcheon Challenger, which will be held in Korea again for the first time in about 14 months, is drawing more attention with the colorful side of the participating teams.
Starting with the world’s No. 1 Upp (Serbia), which consists of former Serbian 3×3 national team members, teams including national team members from Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), Vienna (Austria), Duching (China), Shivona (Croatia), Taipei (Taiwan), Liebrets (Czech Republic), Lausanne (Switzerland), Warsaw (Poland), Utsunomiya and Tsukuba (Japan) will try to win the Hongcheon Challenger.
On top of that, Russia’s Alexander Zuyev and Stanislav Sharov, who won silver medals in men’s 3×3 basketball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will participate in the Hongcheon Challenger as a member of Kotai (Macao).
The performance of players from 3×3 national teams by age is also drawing attention.
Hongcheon, the only South Korean team to play, will compete with world-class teams by joining U.S. and German nationalities Adrian Claybone Jr. and David Leimer, with Kim Joon-sung, a former member of the South Korean U23 men’s 3×3 national team, and Choi Young-hun, a former member of the standing army, in 2019.
Sansar (Mongolia), who includes Kang Vail from Samsung, will participate in the tournament in August with Volor-Erdene Gantzolmon, who bullied the Korean men’s 3×3 national team in the FIBA 3×3 Nations League 2026, and Kluginapoca (Romania), who will visit South Korea for the first time through the Hongcheon Challenger, is composed of all four Romanian U21 men’s 3×3 national teams.
As all 16 participating teams include players from 3×3 national teams or national level from each country, it is expected that a fierce match will be held where it is difficult to easily predict one team’s victory.
The three-day 3×3 festival will be followed by the Hongcheon Challenger on the 18th and 19th, followed by the Hongcheon SUPER STOP on the 20th. The first match of the Hongcheon Challenger will begin at 11 a.m. on the 18th with a showdown between Liebrets (Czech Republic) and Hongcheon (Korea).
[MIN JUN KU, MK Sports Reporter]
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