Striving to be King of the Rock under a hoop
Next Tuesday, Red Bull will bring a one-of-a-kind event to local basketball fans. Get ready for the Red Bull King of The Rock Hong Kong Qualifier at Southern Playground in Wan Chai.
On the day, 64 players will battle it out for a chance to be in the finals, which will be held on September 24 in the legendary prison yard on Alcatraz Island (better known as 'The Rock') in San Francisco, California. The winner will be crowned Red Bull King of the Rock.
Basketballer Glen Joe, who plays for the First Division team Winling, jumped at the chance to pit his skills against other Hong Kog players. 'When I heard of the event, I messaged all my teammates and challenged them to go up against me in the event,' he said.
'There are not many events like this. We have various three-on-three and five-on-five tournaments but not one-on-one tournaments.'
The player said he was 'pretty confident I can beat my teammates but I will not be surprised if someone who does not play in the A1 division took home the title'.
He explained: 'Playing one-on-one is very different from the team game and there are many great individual players out there.'
The chance to compete for the title in the US would be a dream come true, Joe said.
'The winner will get to know where he stands compared to the rest of the world,' he said. 'It's a chance to show the world what Hong Kong players can do.'
At the tournament, contestants will play for five minutes at a single hoop, trying to score more points than their opponent.
'In a one-on-one game, there's lots of dribbling, which does not play to the strength of big guys,' he said.
It's all about skill, he stressed.
