Jaehwa Bernardo

The players of the Rising Eagles, a basketball team composed of Korean celebrities, pose with their team manager Sandara Park and Bench founder Ben Chan during a press conference for the 'Shoot of Asia' exhibition game, October 25, 2025. Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Sandara Park: PH-Korea celebrity basketball game celebrates both countries

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761379352440photo_2025-10-25_15-57-13.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The players of the Rising Eagles, a basketball team composed of Korean celebrities, pose with their team manager Sandara Park and Bench founder Ben Chan during a press conference for the &#x27;Shoot of Asia&#x27; exhibition game, October 25, 2025. <em>Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — While the competition on the court can get intense, a basketball game featuring celebrities from the Philippines and South Korea can also serve as a meaningful celebration between the two nations.</p><p>That&#x27;s how K-pop superstar Sandara Park sees the &quot;Shoot of Asia&quot; exhibition match between South Korea&#x27;s Rising Eagles and the Philippines&#x27; Kuys Showtime, set to take place at the Mall of Asia Arena on October 26.</p><p>&quot;I love both Korea and the Philippines. This game is very special and historic,&quot; said Sandara, who remains a beloved figure in the Philippines, having built a showbiz career here before debuting with the girl group 2NE1.</p><p>&quot;So I believe it&#x27;s not just a basketball [game] but basically a celebration that brings these two countries together,&quot; she said through an interpreter at a press conference on Saturday, a day before the match where she also serves as a guest performer.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:633px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761379596320POSTER.jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Poster for the &#x27;Shoot of Asia&#x27; basketball exhibition game. <em>Photo from Bench&#x27;s X account</em></span></span></span></div><p>Organized by Bench, the game features the Rising Eagles, a celebrity basketball team formed for a sports reality show set to air on Korean broadcaster SBS, and Kuys Showtime, a team composed of Filipino actors, singers and TV personalities.</p><p>Coached by Korean basketball legend-turned-TV personality Seo Jang-hoon, the Rising Eagles feature K-pop artists Minho of SHINee, Jeong Jinwoon of 2AM and Johnny of NCT. Sandara also serves as the team’s manager.</p><p>Sandara admitted that she felt &quot;a dilemma&quot; by being the Korean team&#x27;s manager, as many of the members of the rival team are her friends.</p><p>&quot;A lot of them are my friends. But of course this time, fulfilling my role as a manager for Rising Eagles, I have to show my full support and cheers for Team Korea,&quot; she said.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1981958289035596105&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-10-25T07%3A56%3A07.429302%3A8770cbcf-7e1b-4a05-8a97-eda3123e7a14%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=5f1d9ad4388341b946dc1d5ffd7d937e7c924281&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:897px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1981958289035596105"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>The Philippine lineup includes &quot;It&#x27;s Showtime&quot; hosts Vhong Navarro, Jhong Hilario and Ion Perez; former &quot;Pinoy Big Brother&quot; housemates River Joseph and Dustin Yu; singers Billy Crawford, Adie Garcia and Arthur Nery; and actors David Licauco, JC De Vera and Ronnie Alonte, among others.</p><p>As a manager, Sandara hopes that the Rising Eagles will be &quot;remembered as a team that made the passion for basketball in the Philippines even hotter.&quot;</p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761379569178photo_2025-10-25_16-06-00.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>-- Popular sport in PH -- </strong></div><p>The members of Rising Eagles also acknowledged basketball&#x27;s immense popularity in the Philippines, which fueled them to train even harder for the exhibition game.</p><p>&quot;I know very well that one of the powerhouse sports here is basketball, so being able to play a game in the Philippines that&#x27;s so passionate about basketball truly feels like a dream and an honor,&quot; said Jung Kyu-min, best known for starring in the reality dating show &quot;EXchange 2.&quot;</p><p>Jinwoon added: &quot;We practiced a lot in Korea with stronger teams in preparation for a game that can compete against this strong team.&quot;</p><p>Kyu-min said he also hoped the game &quot;becomes a meaningful opportunity for both Korean and Filipino players to continue buidling strong connections and cultural exchanges as well in the future.&quot;</p><p>For his part, Johnny hopes to make &quot;a lot of great memories&quot; with the Philippine team, regardless of the results.</p><p>When asked for a message to the Philippine players, team captain Minho, nicknamed &quot;Flaming Charisma&quot; <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/celebrities/2025/3/16/shinees-minho-shares-driving-force-behind-passionate-attitude-2000"><strong>for always being so passionate</strong></a> in his endeavors, said: &quot;We, the Rising Eagles, came here not to just have fun but to actually win, so watch out.&quot;</p>

<p>While the competition on the court can get intense, a basketball game featuring celebrities from the Philippines and South Korea can also serve as a meaningful celebration between the two nations.</p>

While the competition on the court can get intense, a basketball game featuring celebrities from the Philippines and South Korea can also serve as a meaningful celebration between the two nations.