Japan isn't exactly a place where one expects to find world-renowned streetball players.
While there have been some — notably Yuichiro "Samurai" Morishita who had a stint with the famed And1 stable — Japan's cupboard has remained mostly bare in terms of global recognition. That's not because of a lack of players, it's just that very few have gained any sort of recognition outside Japan.
Tomoya Ochiai is ready to take a stab at filling that void, and showing that Japan can compete among the world's best. Ochiai, aka Worm, took the first step this past weekend by beating Josei "Money" Maniwa in the Red Bull King of the Rock Japan Final on Sunday in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, to qualify for September's world final on Taiwan's Samasana Island.