Weekend Picks

BASKETBALL

Pro-Amateur Basketball

Championship

Busan KT Sonicboom vs. Ulsan
Mobis Phoebus

2 p.m. Saturday, Jamsil Student Gymnasium, Seoul

Before the Korean Basketball League (KBL) starts in September, sports fans can enjoy this event that will run from Aug. 22.

Ten KBL teams, five college teams and military team Sangmu will compete in this basketball extravaganza. The pro teams will first play each other over the weekend and the winner of those games will face college teams.

This is the third time the tournament has been held. The tournament wasn’t held last year due to the Incheon Asian Games. In 2013, Korea University topped the event after edging pro clubs.

The tournament opens with the defending champion Ulsan Mobis Phoebus and the Busan KT Sonicboom. The Sonicboom this season hired coach Cho Dong-hyun who was an assistant with the Phoebus last season. Another matchup on the first day will pit the Incheon ET Land Elephants against the Wonju Dongbu Promy.

FOOTBALL

K-League Classic

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Pohang Steelers

7 p.m. Saturday, Steel Yard, Pohang, North Gyeongsang

The K-League front-runner Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors will meet the No. 5
Pohang Steelers away.

This will be a good opportunity for football fans to see Jeonbuk’s Lee Jae-sung and Pohang’s Kim Seung-dae in action. Both players proved their competitiveness and helped the national team win the EAFF East Asian Cup last week.

Kim scored one goal and had one assist in his debut and the competition’s opener. Lee assisted Kim’s goal in that game. In the K-League, Lee had four goals, and Kim has scored five.

HANDBALL

Seoul Cup International Handball Tournament

Saturday and Monday, SK Handball Stadium, Seoul

Every two years, the Korea Handball Federation holds the Seoul Cup International Women’s Handball Tournament, to celebrate Korea being a champion of women’s handball in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

This year, the tournament will stage games for men preparing for the regional qualifiers of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Each men’s and women’s teams will have two games. Inviting Egypt’s national team for men’s and French club Issy Paris Hand for women’s, Korea’s national teams will showcase their competitiveness.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON AND NAM YOON-SEO [joo.kyungdon@joongang.co.kr]