Great Britain to participate in the FIBA Esports Open III led by HazzaUK

British Esports and British Basketball have formed a team of NBA 2k21 esports players to represent Great Britain on the global stage in the upcoming FIBA Esports Open III, taking place across three different weekends throughout April and May.

For the first time, the North & Central America and Europe Conferences will consist of two divisions: Current Generation (PS4) and Next Generation (PS5).

The GB team will feature in the Next Generation (PS5) tournament for the European Conference, which will take place from May 7th to 9th. Great Britain is in group 3 with Italy and Belgium.

Each team will consist of seven players: five on the court and two reserves.

The GB team will be led by British professional NBA 2K esports player, Harry ‘HazzaUK’ Hurst, who plays for DUX Gaming. HazzaUK will captain the British side and has helped to select the players.

The players who will represent Great Britain in the FIBA Esports Open III are:

• Harry ‘HazzaUK’ Hurst – Point Guard (PG)
• Jordan ‘WelshJordy’ Polverino – Shooting Guard (SG)
• Freddie ‘xFredzzz’ Goode – Small Forward (SF)
• Kieren ‘xKiesteel’ Steel – Power Forward (PF)
• Samuel ‘SAMDARULER’ Adegun – Center (C)
• Toby ‘PIINGERS’ Peters – Sub
• Termon ‘BailoutNBA’ Serrant – Sub

FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, has announced an increased field of 60 national teams taking part in the third edition of the FIBA Esports Open, set to take place over three weekends with eight regional conferences.

This is an increase from the 38 national teams that took part in the second FIBA Esports Open 2020 held in November 2020, in which Great Britain reached the semi-finals of the tournament.

The PS5 game will be played remotely on NBA 2K21 using the Pro-AM mode. Teams are once again allowed to have full customisation of player avatars, uniforms and arena designs.

Teams are divided into one of the following conferences: Africa, Europe (Current Gen), Europe (Next Gen), Middle East, South-East Asia, South America, North & Central America (Current Gen), and North & Central America (Next Gen).
The South East Asia, Africa, Middle East Conferences, the North & Central America (Current Generation) and Europe (Current Generation) got things going last month.

North & Central America (Next Gen), Europe (Next Gen) and South America will take place on May 7th to 9th. There’s the full tournament schedule here.

Each tournament will run over a weekend, with group stage games scheduled for Friday and the best-of-three playoff series to follow on the Saturday and Sunday.

The conferences can be viewed across FIBA’s Facebook, Twitch and YouTube channels. Group stage games will be shown on Facebook and YouTube and commentated by remote casters, while all playoff games will be fully produced from FIBA’s virtual studio in Latvia.

British Basketball Federation chair Toni Minichiello said: “We are excited to be part of this developing new basketball genre led by FIBA and to again team up in partnership with the British Esports Association.

“This is a great example of esports and sport working together. We look forward to supporting the GB Team, as they take to the virtual basketball court in FIBA competition.”

Alice Leaman, Schools and Colleges Liaison Officer for British Esports, commented: “We are proud to be involved in this event in collaboration with British Basketball. At British Esports we’re always wanting to help showcase some of the incredible UK talent, and the Great Britain FIBA team are a great example of that. We’re looking forward to seeing how they progress throughout the tournament and will be supporting them fully from the sidelines.“

HazzaUK, team captain, said: “I’m very happy to represent Great Britain once again in the FIBA Esports Open III. We fell short of our goal last time, so we’re working even harder to make sure it doesn’t happen a second time!”

You can visit the FIBA Esports Open website for more info, and use the #FIBAesportsOpen hashtag to get involved on social media.

 

About the British Esports Association

The British Esports Association is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2016 to support and promote esports in the UK.

As a national body, its aims are to foster future British talent, increase the awareness of esports and provide expertise and advice. It’s focused on the grassroots level of esports and is not a governing body.

The Association helps educate the masses – including parents, teachers, media and government – around what esports is and what its benefits are. Its three goals are to Promote, Improve and Inspire.
www.besports22.wpengine.com

 

 

About the British Basketball Federation

The British Basketball Federation (British Basketball) is the national governing body responsible for basketball in Britain. It took on the International Federation (FIBA) membership role from the Home Country Associations in October 2016.
The BBF runs GB Basketball in a federated model, under a board of management comprising an independent chair, independent directors and representatives of the three member Home Country Associations (HCAs) of Basketball England, Basketball Scotland and Basketball Wales.
www.gbbasketball.com

 

About the International Basketball Federation and the Esports Open

FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, has announced that after the success of the second edition during last winter, the FIBA Esports Open 2021 is back for its third edition.
With an expanded field for 60 national teams, the FIBA Esports Open 2021 III will see some of the world’s best NBA 2K21 Pro-AM players compete for top honors in six regional conferences.
www.fiba.basketball
www.fiba.basketball/esports/open3/2021