Fighting India make higher ranked Korea sweat for win
Bengaluru/Jakarta, 30 October 2015: In a morale boosting display of confident and aggressive basketball, 51st ranked India made DPR Korea, ranked 19th in the world, work hard for the 104-85 win in the 4th FIBA Asia Championship for U16 Boys that is underway in Jakarta, Indonesia.
After trailing 36-48 at halftime, the GOR Pulogadung arena was treated to a ferocious comeback by the young Indian cagers in the third quarter, who outscored the Koreans 32-28. The final ten minutes saw Korea re-establish its double digit lead but not without conceding key positives to their opponents.
Captain Baladhaneshwar impresses
File Photo- Captain P Baladhaneshwar in action against China. Image credit: FIBA Asia
Yesterday, in India’s opening game against China, Head Coach MS Rathore astutely rotated his bench, and the on court minutes proved crucial in ensuring that the 8 players who stepped on the court today all played their part. Chief among them was Captain P Baladhaneshwar who announced his arrival at the Asian level with a monster display of 33 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Young point guard Manoj Sisodia had a second straight solid game, returning with balanced figures of 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Tamil Nadu centre Adarsh Jayakumar had a breakout match of his own, scoring 23 points.
These individual positives apart, India will need to take better care of the ball and improve its rebounding numbers when it next faces Iraq in tomorrow’s final preliminary league match at 4:30 pm IST. The winner will join DPR Korea and China from Group D in the second round.
India (P Baladhaneshwar 33 pts, 10 rbs, 5 assists & 4 steals;Â Manoj Singh Sisodia 12 pts, 6 assists; Adarsh Jayakumar 23 pts) lost to DPR Korea (Jae Yang 25 pts & 12 rbs, Sechan Seomoon 22 pts, Hyunjung Lee 19 pts) 85-104 [23-26, 13-22, 32-28, 17-28]
INDIAN CONTINGENT FOR THE 2015 FIBA ASIA U16 CHAMPIONSHIP
Jersey No Name Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) Place of Birth (City & State) Plays For Height (cm) Weight
(Kg)
Position* 00 Swapnil Sharma 18/01/1999 Jalandhar Punjab Punjab 192 102 C 04 Manoj Singh Sisodia 05/12/2000 Ratlam Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh 178 63 PG 05 Hansraj 04/03/1999 New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi 178 64 PG 06 Sorav Singha 19/08/1999 Kolkata West Bengal New Delhi 178 66 PG 08 Ankit Joshi 03/01/1999 Faridabad Haryana Haryana 181 66 F 12 Muhammad Shiras Noushad 04/07/1999 Alappuzha Kerala Kerala 190 81 C 13 Harshwardhan Tomar 01/02/2001 Gwalior Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh 208 81 C 14 Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi 07/12/1999 Ullikkottai Manargudi Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu 181 68 F 24 Joshua Jaison George 17/05/1999 Cherthala Aleppey Kerala Kerala 184 75 F 43 Amit 23/10/1999 New Delhi New Delhi Chandigarh 178 62 F 35 Adarsh Premsan Jayakumar 23/05/1999 Coimbatore Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu 190 83 C 99 Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu 30/10/1999 Ferozepur Punjab Punjab 185 90 C
*PG - Point Guard / Feeder, G - Guard, F - Forward, G/F - Wing, PF - Power Forward, C - Centre, PF/C - Pivot
13) Team Manager:Â Mr Venkata Siva Naga Prasad Takasi (Andhra Pradesh)
14) Head Coach: Mr Mahendra Singh Rathore (Gujarat)
15) Assistant Coach: Mr Aju Jacob (Kerala)
16) Team Physio: Dr. Binish Babu (Karnataka)
Preliminary Round Groups
Group A: Japan, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Malaysia
Group B: Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Lebanon
Group C: Philippines, Bahrain, Democratic Republic of Korea and Thailand
Group D: China, India, Korea and Iraq
India’s Upcoming Championship schedule*
Preliminary Round
vs Iraq- 31st October, 16:30 IST (18:00 local time). Venue: GOR Pulogadung
Second Round will be held between 1st and 3rd November
Final Round will be played on 5th, 6th and 7th November.
*See below for tournament format, history, and India’s past participation.
About the 4th FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Boys 2015
Venues
(Sourced verbatim from: http://www.fiba.com/asia/u16/2015/venues)
The 2015 FIBA Asia U16 Championship will be staged in 2 different venues, both located in Jakarta, Indonesia. The primary venue will be the Britama Arena, Sportsmall Kelapa Gading and the secondary venue will be GOR Pulogadung.
As per the competition schedule, 41 games will be played in the primary venue (Britama Arena) and 21 in the secondary venue (GOR Pulogadung). (Total of 62 games)
The Championship is also expected to be streamed live here: http://www.livebasketball.tv/
Competition Format
(Sourced verbatim from: http://www.fiba.com/asia/u16/2015/competition-format)
Group phase (16 teams, 6 days)
Day 1 to 3: The first round of the tournament will be played in a round robin format, with the sixteen (16) teams divided into four (4) groups of four (4) teams. Every team will take on its three (3) opponents in its respective group.
The top three (3) teams from each group advance to the second phase. Others will play Classification Games 13-16 (on Day 4 and 5).
Day 4 to 6: For the second round, the twelve (12) remaining teams will be divided into two (2) groups of six (6). Each team will play against the three (3) new teams in its group. The top four (4) teams from each group advance to the Quarter-Finals. Others play Classification Games 9-12.
Day 7: Rest day.
Final phase (day 8 to 10) The tournament will be played in a knockout format from the Quarter-Finals onwards. Day 8: Quarter-Finals and Classification Games 9-12. Day 9: Semi-Finals and Classification Games 11-12, 9-10 and 5-8. Day 10: Final, Third-Place Game and Classification Games 7-8 and 5-6.
Competition history & India’s participation
Prior to the upcoming iteration, 3 editions of this biennial championship have been held so far, dating back to 2009. China has won all three editions, followed by South Korea (2 silver), Philippines (1 silver) and Japan (2 bronze).
India has participated in all three editions so far. The side finished 10th in 2009 and 2011, and 11th in 2013. The Indian team is currently ranked 51 in the world.