The National Championships of the DPRK opened on September 12. At the championships, matches of over 410 events in more than 20 sports such as football, athletics, weightlifting, rowing, ice hockey and shooting are being played in Pyongyang and different local areas. The opening ceremony held at the Basketball Gymnasium on Chongchun Street in Pyongyang was followed by a men’s 3x3 hoop game between the Sobaeksu and Pyongyang teams. The match drew special attention of spectators as it was the first game of the ongoing championships. Both teams speeded up offensive from the beginning in order to overpower each other by employing various tactics and skills. Watching the seesaw match, spectators burst into enthusiastic applause whenever players succeeded in lay-ups and long-distance shots by dint of rebounds, quick and correct passes, agile feints and dribbling. In the game, the Pyongyang defeated the Sobaeksu 19-14. It was followed by a women’s 3x3 between the Kigwancha and Pyongyang, which was as fierce as the men’s. A striking player was No. 5 of the Pyongyang who played a big role for her team to take the initiative of the game. Though the smallest in stature of all the players in the match, she got scores one after another by taking rebounds better than taller players taking advantage of keen kinesthetic sense and rhythm and with lay-ups and long-distance shots. She earned deafening applause from spectators as she succeeded in long-distance shots five times straight by dint of correct judgment of situations, taking of correct positions and proficient moves. The Pyongyang team also won the women’s game 22-16. Unlike the ordinary basketball game, in the 3x3 the players have only 12 seconds to finish one round of attack and it takes a player an average of two seconds to go out to the free-throw line for attack after taking a rebound. Therefore, the players have only 10 seconds for one round of attack. In addition, only one substitute can take the bench and the coaches cannot instruct their players even in the seat, and accordingly the players have to play the game independently. This event requires the capacity to quickly cope with situations, great skills and remarkable physical ability due to such pressure and urgency and thus it wins growing popularity among Koreans as it suits their physical constitution. The matches have piqued public interest in the National Championships as they fired the spectators with the zeal for the sport. THE PYONGYANG TIMES 
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