23rd FIBA Asia U18 Women's Championship Squad Finalized
New Delhi/Bengaluru, 11th November, 2016: The Indian U18 Women's Team that will participate at the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women in Bangkok, Thailand from 13th to 20th November 2016, has been finalized. The team will be captained by the talented Bhandavya HM (who had already debuted on the senior team last year) and coached by the seasoned Shiba Maggon, a former India Women’s Captain. The Indian girls team is currently ranked 38th in the world and 5th in Asia (as per the combined FIBA World Rankings for U16 and U18 teams). India is grouped alongside 5 other teams in elite Level 1, with the top four teams at the end of the league rounds progressing to the semifinals stage. India will be looking improve upon its consecutive 7th place finishes in the last two editions of the championship (in 2012 and 2014). The side’s first obstacle is hosts Thailand whom it will face in the opening game on 13th November. Said Coach Maggon, “Our motto is to never give up and keep trying to better ourselves. We will try to improve upon how we performed against Thailand (from their previous encounter in 2014 which they had lost 62-68) and also try to play well against Chinese Taipei.” The contingent left from Aurangabad earlier this morning and is travelling to Bangkok via Mumbai.
Squad
Initially, 25 probables were selected from the 67th Junior National Basketball Championship held in Puducherry from 1st to 8th May, 2016. Subsequently, a national camp was conducted at the National Basketball Academy in Indore from 9th to 24th September, 2016. Based on their overall performance, the final 12 member squad was picked by the Selection Committee.
Indian Squad for the 23rd FIBA U18 Women’s Championship 2016
Jersey No Family Name(s) /Last Name First Name(s) /Given Name Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) Place of Birth Height (cm)(ft and inches) Weight (Kg) Position City State 07 Prabhakara Priyanka 03/10/1998 Nemmara Kerala 177 (5’ 9’’) 54 SG 10 Verma Riya 08/01/1998 Bhilai Chhattisgarh 162 (5’ 3’’) 54 SG 14 Masilamani Nishanti 14/10/1999 Chennai Tamil Nadu 168 (5’ 6’’) 50 PG 15 Sandhu Aakarshan 02/03/1999 Chandigarh Chandigarh 183 (6’) 78 C 20 Pandey Sakshi 30/04/1998 Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh 175 (5’ 8’’) 51 SG 23 Menezes Carina Clarence 27/11/1998 Thane Mumbai 175 (5’ 8’’) 58 SF 27 Hemmige Mahesha Bhandavya 18/04/1998 Mandya Karnataka 166 (5’ 5’’) 56 SG 29 Chakravortty Sushantika 24/08/2000 Delhi Delhi 180 (5’ 10’’) 72 PF 54 George Nimmi 01/04/1998 Chalakudy Kerala 183 (6’) 60 C 75 Illath Parappali Anusha 14/03/1998 Kozhikode Kerala 173 (5’ 8’’) 53 SF 86 Ali Gulabsha 15/02/2000 Bhilai Chhattisgarh 165 (5’ 4’’) 64 PG 99 Suren Srishti 30/04/2000 Chennai Tamil Nadu 180 (5’ 10’’) 59 PF
*PG - Point Guard / Feeder, G - Guard, F - Forward, G/F - Wing, PF - Power Forward, C - Centre, PF/C - Post
13) Team Manager: Mr. Jugraj Singh Baidwan 14) Physio: Dr. Prachi Bipin Shah 15) Head Coach: Ms. Shiba Maggon 16) Assistant Coach: Mr. Kalva Rajeshaver Rao 17) Referee Supervisor: Mr. Naresh Chander Aneja 18) Referee: Ms. Snehal Vidyadhar Bendke 19) Referee: Mr. Amarjot Singh Mavi
About the 23rd FIBA U18 Asia Championship 2016
The 23rd FIBA U18 Asia Championship 2016 will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from the 13th to the 20th of November. The top 3 teams will represent Asia at the 2017 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship in Cairo, Egypt.
Format
The 12-team event has been split into two levels: upper Level 1 (or Group A) and lower level 2 (Group B): Level 1 (Group A) Teams: China, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, India and hosts Thailand Level 2 (Group B) Teams: Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Indonesia This is a league cum knockout format. The group phase of the tournament will be played in a round-robin format, with each team playing every other team in their group. The top four teams from Group A progress to the semifinals, while the bottom two Group A teams will play relegation matches with the top two teams from Group B. For more information: http://www.fiba.com/asia/u18women/2016/competition-system
India’s Schedule [Timings in IST]
vs Thailand – 13th November, 1:30 PM vs China – 14th November, 1:30 PM vs Chinese Taipei – 15th November, 1:30 PM vs South Korea – 16th November, 3:30 PM vs Japan – 17th November, 3:30 PM Rest Day – 18th November Knockout and Placement Rounds – 19th and 20th November For more details see: http://www.fiba.com/asia/u18women/2016/fullschedule
Championship History
The FIBA U18 Asia Championship was first instituted in 1970 and the inaugural edition of the tournament took place in Seoul, South Korea. Coming into this 23rd edition, China and Japan are the three time defending champions and first runners up respectively.
India’s Past Record
Prior to the upcoming 23rd edition, India has participated in the tournament 13 times and has also hosted it once (New Delhi, 2000). India’s best performance at the event came in 1980 when it was placed 4th. Thereafter the side went into a bit of a lull, getting relegated to lower Level 2 by the end of the 2008 edition. In 2012, the team climbed back into upper Level 1 where it has continued to compete till date.