Matt Kiatipis calls off Chinatown 1v1 challenge in Singapore

Canadian basketball influencer Matt Kiatipis went to Chinatown in Singapore on October 6 for an open one-on-one basketball challenge. Hundreds of fans packed the rooftop court at Chinatown Complex, leaving no room to play. Kiatipis, known online as 'MK,' ended up not playing a single game and had to call off the event. He was surprised by how many people came out to see him.

Kiatipis had posted the location on Instagram at noon, and fans arrived well before his 6:30 p.m. start time. The crowd was so big that people climbed fences and gathered on nearby apartment stairways just to watch. Singapore police came to the scene to help manage the large crowd. Officers asked everyone to stay safe and make room, but the court never cleared enough to play.

Kiatipis said he usually sees around 100 fans at most when he announces an event on the same day. He did not expect such a huge crowd in Singapore, which left him both excited and frustrated. His main goal was to find and play against local basketball talent. Because the court was overcrowded, he never got the chance to meet that goal.

Two fans who came to the event shared how they felt about what happened. Micah Rijke, 15, said he loves MK's basketball videos and enjoys the community around them. He noted the crowd was not listening when Kiatipis asked people to back away from the court. Hugo Quinn, also 15, said he was not too upset because he understood why Kiatipis had no choice but to leave.

Kiatipis is from Newmarket, Ontario, in Canada and played college basketball at Simon Fraser University. He later played at a school in the United States, but the Covid-19 pandemic ended his season early. After a short professional career in Costa Rica, he began making basketball videos online. Today, he has more than 5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.

His mission is to make one-on-one basketball a recognized sport around the world. He believes the one-on-one format lets more people get involved than traditional five-on-five games. His events take place at all kinds of locations — from street courts to stadiums to neighborhoods in Brazil. He also hopes to expand the one-on-one idea to other sports in the future.

Singapore is the second stop on his Asia tour, following events in Jakarta, Indonesia, from October 1 to 3. Despite the Chinatown event being canceled, Kiatipis said he plans to hold two or three more events in Singapore. He was originally going to leave by October 9 but is considering staying longer. He wants to make sure fans get to see real one-on-one games before he moves on.