The U18 South Korean men’s basketball team, which participated in the 2024 FIBA U18 Asian Men’s Basketball Championship, returned home through Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on the evening of the 11th.안전놀이터
The national team, which was convened on August 1, was united in selflessness in a “one-team” position. As all 12 of them played as ace players in their respective schools, it seemed difficult to unite the individuals with strong individuality. However, all 12 of them sacrificed and headed to the one team step by step, striving for defense and bad luck.
In a good atmosphere, the players sweated. Their facial expressions gradually became slimmer, and I could feel their efforts. Through practice games with professional and university teams, they have built up confidence. On top of that, they also gave encouragement and encouragement to the future of Korean basketball. Not only associations and federations but also KBL professional coaches gathered encouragement money to support the young national team players. Amid much cheering and encouragement, the team headed to Amman, Jordan, where the championship will take place.
Team Korea had a landslide 119-47 victory over India in the first preliminary match, with as many as seven players scoring double-digit points. Team Korea, which won 86-36 against Kuwait in a subsequent match, is set for a showdown with Iran for the top spot in the group. Team Korea was most wary of Iran’s strength and height ahead of the preliminary match.
Contrary to worries and concerns, the Korean team, which was united as one team, won 83-60 over Iran, which was considered a difficult opponent. The Korean team, which advanced to the quarterfinals as No. 1 in the group, has only one step left until the “world stage.” However, as the team lost 69-73 to its home team Jordan, the team failed to advance to the semifinals, missing the 2025 FIBA U19 Men’s Basketball World Cup ticket given to the top four teams.
“After reaching the quarterfinals, I went to see both Jordan and Qatar play together. I wanted to feel and recognize Jordan’s unilateral cheering and atmosphere,” coach Jeong Seung-won said. “That’s how we met Jordan in the quarterfinals, and his height and physicality were better than we expected. It was better than Iran. The players were intimidated by the unilateral cheering for the home team and the atmosphere in the stadium, and they failed to set the tone when they could overcome it.”
As young players, they would be sufficiently agitated by the unilateral cheering sound for the home team. In fact, the players had to challenge themselves in such an atmosphere, and it was not easy to show what they prepared.
“There is no perfect defense, but whenever we thought we succeeded in defending, we had 3-4 shots taken by the opponent team,” coach Chung said. “Our mood did not come at a time when the mood was gradually shifting to the opponent team.” Many people who cheered for the national team felt sorry, but more than anyone else, the players who were disappointed. Nevertheless, the national team players ended the tournament by defeating Japan and Iran in the ensuing ranking match. Their final score was 5-1 and ranked fifth.
“Players must have felt the biggest regret than anyone else. However, thankfully, the players shook off the match against Jordan and did a good job until the end in the ranking match. I thought the match against Japan would be a challenge, but I overcame it. I am grateful to the players for completing the match so hard that they did not overshadow what they had prepared and sweated for in Korea ahead of the event,” coach Jeong said.
Although they failed to make it to the world stage, the national team players’ good performance was enough to make them look forward to the future of Korean basketball.
“Players who played important roles in their respective teams worked so hard under the slogan of ‘One Team’. We really hit it off as good as one team. I regret more, but I and the players also had a lot of experience,” coach Jung Seung-won said in the interview. “Players will nourish themselves from now on, but it was a competition where I can think and develop myself more as a leader.”
After returning home, the players returned to their respective positions after a short greeting. We look forward to seeing what the future of Korean basketball has gained and felt through the journey of the past 40 days, and future growth.