The sudden heat wave did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Korea Tour.
On the 13th, the ‘2024 KBA 3×3 Korea Tour 1st Seoul Tournament’ kicked off at a special court in front of the Seoul Newspaper Plaza. A record 73 teams participated in the tournament in six categories – elementary, middle school, high school, men’s open, women’s open, and Korea League men’s – to kick off the 2024 Korea Tour.
Taking place at the same venue as last year, the Korea Tour kicked off the first day of competition at 9am. By 11 a.m., the sun was suddenly scorching hot, and thick beads of sweat quickly formed on the players’ foreheads. However, the athletes were focused on playing for their return to Korea after a six-month hiatus, and the citizens passing by Tae Pyeong Road also stopped to watch the athletes compete on the court.
On the first day of the qualifying schedule for each discipline, the men’s Korea League, which attracted the most attention, saw some teams rise and others fall. In the four-team Group A, it was a bite-or-bust affair. As a result, Black Label Sports, who have emerged as a dark horse to shake up the league division this season, took the top spot in the group.
Black Label Sports, BIGBOYX Awesome Sports, and Hansolemicon were all tied with two wins and one loss. In this case, the finalists were determined based on the highest number of points, with Black Label Sports topping the group with an average of 20.7 points, followed by BIGBOYX Awesome Sports with an average of 17.7 points.
BIGBOYX Awesome Sports, which has been participating in the League Division since last year, was on the verge of being eliminated from the qualifiers, but was dramatically saved by Kim Ji-hyun’s game-winning two-pointer at the end of the last game of the qualifiers against Black Label Sports. On the other hand, Hansolemicon, who scored 16.0 points, failed to advance to the finals, finishing third in the group.
In Group B of the Korea League, Bang Deok-won’s returning Skyfall Inje topped the group with back-to-back wins over Gimpo City Basketball Association and JBY SPORTS. The other spot in the finals went to Gimpo City Basketball Association. Gimpo City Basketball Association, which made its debut in the league division through the tournament, won a hard-fought 19-17 victory in the second-place game against JBY SPORTS to finish second in Group B and advance to the finals.
In Group C, Cosmo, who started with a new name, reaffirmed their dominance with two straight wins. Despite the confusion of the team’s name change from Masterwok to Cosmo, their performance remained unchanged from last year. With Kim Jeong-yeon, Yoon Sung-soo, and Jung Sung-jo, Cosmo, who all hold the first through third spots in the 3×3 national rankings, easily topped Group C thanks to their dominant fundamentals. Han Jun-hyuk’s Descent Bumpers followed with a 21-15 victory over Motion Sports to finish second in Group C.
In the middle school division, which featured 18 teams, the most in the tournament, Suzy KT continued its dominance, with 12 teams advancing to the finals, including Seongsan Middle, Gangil Middle Gangster, SC, GukhoeMCA, Suzy KT A, Traveling, Goyang TOP, WAH4TheWay, Songdo TOP, Humphreys Hoops, Korean Monkey, and Suzy KT B.
In the high school division, established powerhouses such as Goyang TOP and Bikini City cruised to the quarterfinals, while Suzy KT B also made it to the quarterfinals.
In the women’s open division, established teams such as Gapyeong Carré and Dynoman Hansol advanced to the quarterfinals side by side. As if to prove that last year’s victory was no fluke, Gwangju Women’s 토토 University, who won the Women’s Open at the Korea Tour Finals Jeonju in November, also advanced to the quarterfinals by topping Group B with a dominant performance.
The 15-team Men’s Open Division was dominated by Master Wook, who won three tournaments last year and reigned as the strongest player in the Men’s Open Division. Elegant Sports entered the Men’s Open Division with two teams, A and B, and advanced to the finals side-by-side, raising expectations for the podium.
With the teams that have advanced to the finals without any major upsets, the second day of competition at the 2024 KBA 3×3 Korea Tour Seoul will see the final rounds of each discipline on Sunday, April 14, with the primary division starting in the morning.
All games will be streamed live on the official YouTube account of the Korea Basketball Association.
