K-water Focus ② : Water, Nature and Humankind

K-water Focus ②
A special basketball tournament held
on the waterway of the Nakdong River
‘3X3 Basketball Tournament with K-water:
2022 Korea Riverside Battle in the Nakdonggang River’
A special sports event took place in Busan and Daegu, two cities that are situated along the path of the Nakdong River.
The ‘2022 Korea Riverside Battle in Nakdonggang River: 3X3 Basketball Tournament with K-water’ aims to boost
the morale of citizens through sports and serve as a channel of communication with people.
Written by Choi Haeng-jwa Photos by K-water

The basketball tournament on the street, ‘2022 Korea Riverside Battle’

K-water hosted ‘2022 Korea Riverside Battle in Nakdonggang River: 3X3 Basketball Tournament with K-water’ every weekend from September 17 to October 8 at the Nakdonggang River Culture Center in Busan and The ARC in Daegu under the ‘Korean Rivers-Youth Communication Project’, a new project K-water launched to boost the morale of citizens fatigued from the challenges due to the pandemic and serve as a channel of communication.
The aim of the event is to restore communication and human interactions with rivers through sports and to offer entertainment, allowing people to rediscover rivers and waterways around us as a space of harmony and vitality.
The 3X3 Basketball Tournament was joined by a total of 58 teams or 232 people in three divisions of college students/ adults, women, and high school students. The participants compete in half-court matches with only one hoop. People play half-court basketball for fun worldwide, but recently the 3X3 format has been adopted as an official event of the Asian Games and Olympics. A team is made up of four players including a substitute playing in a 10-minute match. The first team to reach 21 points wins.
The tournament started at the Nakdonggnag Culture Center in Busan on September 17 and continued until the finals took place at The ARC in Daegu on October 8. The champions were the team ‘Master Wook’ in the college student/ adult division, the ‘Brachiosaurus’ team in the women division, and the ‘Mentors X Best’ team in the high school student division aspiring to enter a sport university.

Concurrent events to experience various water cultures

Various concurrent events took place at the outdoor square of The ARC where the final match was played on October 8. Many of the events are for families to enjoy, including Banguri four cuts, Banguri cotton candy and Banguri coloring game activities. K-water took advantage of the tournament to promote its tap water services, including eco-friendly tap water-drinking experience, the National Water Information Center, and tap water safety check service. The special match against Slam Deukhoo, a team of comedians and the finals match were televised nationwide.
Following up to the 2022 Korea Riverside Battle in Nakdonggang River at The ARC and Nakdonggang Culture Center, two riverside spaces with a large traffic of visitors, K-water plans to hold similar events along the Hangang River, Geumgang River and other rivers.
K-water CEO Jae-hyeon Park explained, “I am very pleased that the 2022 Korea Riverside Battle proved to be an opportunity for youths to demonstrate their youthful enthusiasm and passion at the riverside, a space of healing. As Korea’s leading water management corporation, K-water will relentlessly make concerted efforts to communicate with people, raise public awareness of the value of water, and help people fully enjoy water culture.”

※ This interview was conducted in accordance with the COVID-19 safety rules.