The players of Polish basketball championship team, Stelmet BC Zielona Góra, not only have begun the league’s final series by winning the first two games against Rosa Radom. They have also won something elses: over 7000 gifts for fans present at the game in a unique bet with the Polish Basketball League’s sponsor - Cinkciarz.pl
Pro-ballers from Zielona Gora (this season’s Eurocup quarterfinalists) declared in a series of short videos tagged with #CinkciarzChallenge on social media, completing unusual basketball challenges, e.g. blindfolded or backward shots. In exchange, the Polish league’s sponsor, Cinkciarz.pl - an online currency exchange company, would give hundreds of different sports gadgets to the fans present at the first final game. Players were raising the stakes for five consecutive days, adding new prizes in newly published videos. The gifts included t-shirts, scarves and cardboard clappers. This was the first campaign of this type in Polish basketball, but the organizers declare that it won’t be the last.
What is impressive - is the ease with which the players from Zielona Gora were able to complete even the most demanding challenges. Nemanja Djurisić, a Montenegroan power forward was one who stood out; scoring a backward three-pointer with one hand, while holding a video camera on a selfie stick with the other. Szymon Szewczyk showed surprising motor skills by hitting nine blindfolded free throws in 60 seconds. Both point-guards of the team: Lukasz Koszarek and Dee Bost also didn’t disappoint. Koszarek easily sank nine out of ten regular three-pointers, and Bost scored five out of ten free-throws… while sitting.
The most suprising, however, was Mateusz Ponitka, who recognised his challenge (backward free throw) as... too undemanding. Ponitka, the MVP of the PLK current regular season, after proving that a “regular” backward free throw does not trouble him at all, upped the ante by challenging himself to score a backward FT by bouncing the ball between the legs. And, of course, he hit it!
This basketball challenge has contributed to the creation of an entertaining build-up before this season’s PLK finals. You can check out the complete challenge in the video.
Last, but not least, the organizers decided to announce a new competition to its viewers. The contest consists of completing similar tasks to those seen in the #CinkciarzChallenge series. - We await these short films in which amateurs show how they perform when attempting the same tasks as the players from Zielona Góra. We will grant awards for the most creative and inventive videos - announces Kamil Sahaj, chief marketing officer of Cinkciarz.pl.