FIBA Asia Championship India hands Palestine its 1st Loss of the Championship
FIBA Asia Championship India hands Palestine its 1st Loss of the Championship
Head Coach Sat Prakash during a team huddle. Image credit: FIBA Asia
A rested India learned from past mistakes and gave Palestine it’s first loss of the Championship 73 to 70, in a back and forth match that saw two up and coming teams play to its full, entertaining potential. India and Palestine came into the 2nd round on different ends of the spectrum, as India had lost 2 of their 3 matches and Palestine had won all three of its first round, including the upset of the tournament against Philippines.
India started off the game hot, just like the previous match against Japan, with Vishesh Bhriguvanshi controlling the game with 6 points and 2 assists and Amjyot Singh starting off hot with 7 points, including an emphatic, crowd-raising dunk at the end of the 1st Quarter.
Palestine didn’t relent as they came back to win the second quarter. However, the turnovers, 17 to India’s 13, for Palestine proved to be too much to overcome. Palestine dominated the rebound margin 49-38 but India’s interior defence and length provided to be too strong. India went on to win the second half, and eventually the game, in what turned out to be a game of scoring runs, the last of Palestine’s which India was able to hold off, after J Abu Shamala missed a 3 pointer at the buzzer off of a steal that would have tied the game.
Palestine was led by skipper Sani Sakakini and J Abu Shamala, with 23 and 21 points, respectively.
India’s Big 3 Puts on a Show
Amjyot against Palestine. Image credit: FIBA Asia.
Just like against Japan, India’s big 3 of Amritpal Singh, Amjyot Singh and Captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, dominated the game for India, each understanding their role and playing to them perfectly. High-flying scorer, Amjyot had the best game of his young India career with 32 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals; while, Amritpal provided the muscle down low to an efficient 7/11 performance for 14 points and 9 rebounds. Vishesh provided the veteran leadership expected from the captain to an all around performance of 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 5 assists, finally being able to showcase his full play-making ability throughout the Championship, knowing he has two others to carry the scoring load.
Their performance shouldn’t dismiss the job well done by the role players and bench of India, as Akilan Pari playing great defence and veteran Yadwinder Singh hustling and providing the much needed energy off the, limited, Indian bench.
Coach Sat Prakash hailed his team’s performance after the game, “This is a great win for the team. We played aggressively on offence and defence, which made the win possible. It will give us great confidence for the upcoming matches as Palestine is a very good team on both ends of the floor.”
India (Amjyot Singh 32 pts, 11 rbs, 3 assts, & 3 stls,Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 17 pts, 3 rbs, 3 stls, & 5 asts, Amritpal Singh 14 pts & 9 rbs) beat Palestine (Sani Sakakini 23 pts & 12 rbs, J Abu Shamala 21 pts, and Salim Sakakini 16 pts) 73-70 (19-17, 13-19, 17-11, 24-23)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeD3Z070ojw&index=20&list=PLCXERy73Oiz_Fzc7zCypY6Yn1oY1VVX6t[/youtube]
India’s upcoming matches at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship*
Game 2: India vs Hong Kong – 7:00 AM on 28th September, 2015
Game 3: India vs Philippines – 12:00 PM on 29th September, 2015
Knockouts, Quarterfinals, semi finals and finals will be played on 1st, 2nd and 3rd October respectively.
*See below for tournament groupings, format, history, and India’s past participation.
How to follow the games
The Championship is being held at two venues in Changsha, China. The primary venue is the Gymnasium of Changsha Social Work College, while the secondary venue is the Gymnasium of Central South University of Forestry and Technology.
Matches are being aired on NEO SPORTS. Live streaming of the game is also available on a paid subscription basis here: http://www.livebasketball.tv/home. Live play by play updates are also available on FIBA’s official website: http://www.fiba.com/asia/2015.
INDIAN SQUAD FOR THE 28THFIBA ASIA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2015
Jersey No Name Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) Place of Birth (City &State) Height (cm) Weight (Kg) Position 03 Vinay Kaushik 30/08/1991 Lakhan Majra Haryana 189 88 F 04 Rajesh Prakash Uppar 20/01/1991 Dharwad Karnataka 172 67 PG 07 Siddhant Sanjay Shinde 15/06/1991 Pune Maharashtra 180 75 G 09 Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 13/09/1991 Varanasi Uttar Pradesh 193 95 G/F 10 Amritpal Singh 05/01/1991 Ganna Pind Punjab 207 110 C 13 Vikas Kumar 13/11/1988 Dablain Haryana 183 80 F 14 Yadwinder Singh 30/12/1986 Rasulpur Khurd Haryana 196 90 F 15 Arvind Arumugam 28/01/1991 Mandya Karnataka 197 94 PF 22 Amjyot Singh 27/01/1992 Chandigarh Punjab/ Haryana 203 104 F 66 Akilan Pari 20/07/1989 Chennai Tamil Nadu 180 70 PG 69 Akashdeep Hazra 01/07/1996 Baroda Gujarat 213 98 C 96 Gurvinder Singh Gill 21/01/1996 Chandigarh Punjab/ Haryana 200 90 PF
*PG - Point Guard / Feeder, G - Guard, F - Forward, G/F - Wing, PF - Power Forward, C - Centre, PF/C - Pivot
13) Team Manager: Mr Goutam Ganguly (West Bengal)
14) Head Coach: Mr Sat Prakash (Rajasthan)
15) Assistant Coach: Mr Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph (Kerala)
16) Team Physio: Dr Nikhil Nellikka Puthiyandi (Karnataka)
Referees:
17) Mr Atanu Banerjee (West Bengal)
18) Mr Ceceline Michael Vino (Tamil Nadu)
19) Ms. Snehal Bendke (Maharashtra)
About the 28thFIBA Asia Men’s Championship 2015
Preliminary Round Groups
Group A: Iran, India, Malaysia and Japan
Group B: Hong Kong, Palestine, Philippines and Kuwait
Group C: China, Korea, Jordan and Singapore
Group D: Chinese Taipei, Lebanon, Qatar and Kazakhstan
Tournament Format
This will be the 28th edition of the Asian Men’s Basketball Championship. 16 teams are expected participate in this championship and are divided into four groups (A, B, C and D) of four teams each. League matches are conducted within each group and the top three teams from each group proceed to the second round. The second round will comprise 12 teams in total split into two groups (E and F) of six teams each. The three top teams from groups A and B after the first round will be placed in Group E in the second round, while groups C and D’s top three teams will be placed in Group F.
In the second round, the top four teams, each from Group C and D progress to the quarterfinals, followed by the semi-finals and finals. The 2015 FIBA Asia Championship is a qualifier for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The winner qualifies automatically for 2016 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th place teams earn spots for 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
Tournament history & India’s participation
Prior to the upcoming iteration, 27 editions of this biennial championship have been held so far, dating back to 1960. Philippines won the inaugural edition. China leads the medal’s tally with 15 golds, followed by Philippines (5 golds) and Iran (3 golds) India first participated at this event in 1965, and has competed 24 times in total. The Indian men’s team best finish came in 1975, when we finished 4th.India has also secured 5th place at the 1969, 1979 and 1981 iterations.
At the last edition in 2013, Iran, Philippines and Korea were the top three sides, while India finished 11th.