Haizhu held the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Youth 3-on-3 Basketball Match contest on July 21-23.

In all, about 600 youngsters from 144 teams from the GBA joined in. In addition to regular 3-on-3 matches, there were also fun events, such as a Youth Shooting Contest and Skills Competition.

A basketball match gets underway in Haizhu. [Photo/Yangcheng Evening News]

The competition has provided a registration channel for cities in the GBA. Besides Guangzhou, top youth teams from Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhanjiang and other places are also eligible to participate.

Organizers also set up cultural and creative product markets and a fun sports experience area for students.

Visitors check out what's on offer at the market. [Photo/Yangcheng Evening News]

In order to enable more young people to showcase their talents, the competition also set up positions such as "basketball journalist" and "basketball referee" for young folks to experience what those roles are like.

Young representatives from schools across the area were selected and trained by the organizers before officially taking up their positions.

"This is my first time coming to Guangzhou to participate in a basketball competition. It feels great to be able to exchange basketball skills with local friends here," said a student surnamed Zhou from Pui Ching Primary School in Hong Kong.

A coach of the Surpass basketball team said that the young players were fully trained in the game and their teamwork ability had been further improved.