FROM HOOPS LAST PICK TO 3X3 STAR

S'pore's Blakney has come a long way since he first played basketball, eyes bigger goals

- David Lee Senior Sports Correspondent

National 3x3 player Liam Blakney, the Singapore ice hockey goalkeeper from 2022-24, has chosen to focus on basketball. He will be key to the hosts' 3X3.EXE Super Premier hopes. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

(ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO)

An active, curious child, Liam Blakney learnt swimming when he was three, picked up ice hockey at five before trying out basketball when he was 12.

In Secondary 1, the teenager enrolled in Gan Eng Seng Secondary School’s basketball trials because the school did not offer swimming as a co-curricular activity.

He barely made the cut as one of the last picks, even after they took in extra players for a 14-member squad that year.

That seemingly fortuitous selection would set him on the path to 3x3 basketball success. Just seven years later, he sank the winning basket in the Singapore men’s team’s epic 21-20 win over powerhouses Philippines in the 2025 SEA Games semifinals en route to a historic silver.

Ahead of the March 28-29 3x3.EXE Super Premier Singapore stop at the Sengkang Grand Mall, the 20-year-old told The Sunday Times: “Since I was a little kid, sports have been a big part of our lives because my dad really loves sports and mum is also pretty active and stays in shape.

“I was pretty lucky how basketball worked out for me.