FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2024: India women progress to Main Draw; Men fail to get past Qualifying
Yesterday proved to be a ‘mixed’ emotions one for the Indian contigent competing at the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2024.
Yesterday proved to be a ‘mixed’ emotions one for the Indian contingent competing at the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2024.
While the talented young men’s team were blown away by the speedy and sharpshooting Malaysia, the women’s side persevered despite losing backup centre Kavya Singla to a knee injury.
India Men lose to Malaysia 9-21
In the clash between the two unbeaten teams (both had easily put away the meek challenge posted by Maldives and Macau), India found itself on the backfoot from the opening whistle. Malaysia came out firing, with their “space and pace”, for which India had no answer.
India’s poor & inconsistent outside shooting - now a persisting weakness across both 3x3 and 5v5 formats - proved fatal yet again.
National Basketball Federation President Mr Aadhav Arjuna’s emphasis on shooting notwithstanding (he even bought a Dr Dish shooting machine for the team training camp), the Young Cagers are showing an alarming lack of improvement both in terms of catch-and-shoot as well as in their ability to shoot off the dribble.
Final Scores
India lose to Malaysia 9-21
India beat Macau, China 21-13
India beat Maldives 21-10
India women overcome Singla’s injury
The Indian women’s team meanwhile, showed wonderful grit, energy, hustle and versatile game strategy. While against the much smaller Northern Mariana Islands, they stayed focused on scoring in the paint, they were able to expand their conversion range when needed against Hong Kong and Indonesia, to progress to the Main Draw with a perfect 3-0 record.
It remains to be seen if backup centre Kavya Singla, who suffered a knee injury in the win over Hong Kong, will be fit in time for the Main Draw games starting on March 30.
Final Scores
India beat Indonesia 20-13
India beat Hong Kong, China 18-12
India beat Northern Mariana Islands 21-1
India Women’s Upcoming Schedule & Watch Details
vs New Zealand, March 30, 12:10 pm IST
vs Australia March 30, 6:05 pm IST)
Games are being streamed live on FIBA 3x3’s YouTube Channel, as well as the main FIBA YouTube Channel.
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