India ends 2015 FIBA Asia Men's Championship in 8th position, its best finish in 12 years
Team India at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship. Standing L to R: Head Coach Sat Prakash, Arvind Arumugam, Gurvinder Gill, Akashdeep Hazra, Amritpal Singh, Amjyot Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Assistant Coach Sebastian PJ. Sitting L to R: Vinay Kaushik, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (captain), Akilan Pari, Siddhant Shinde, Vikas Kumar, Rajesh Uppar. All images used here are credit FIBA Asia
BENGALURU/CHANGSHA, 03 October 2015: Underlining its rising stature in Asian basketball, the Indian senior men’s team has ended its 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in 8th position, after a placement match loss to higher ranked Qatar earlier this morning.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLaxbrvmMwY[/youtube]
India has returned to the 8th spot after a gap of 12 years. The side had finished 8th in both the 2003 and 2001 iterations of the Asian Championships that were also held in China at Harbin and Shanghai respectively. The two week long 28th FIBA Asian Championship for Men that concludes in Changsha, China later this evening serves as the Olympic qualifying tournament for the 2016 Olympics.
In their impressive run from the preliminary rounds, through to the quarterfinals and finally the placement matches, the Indian team played as many as 9 matches in 11 days. In doing so, the young squad with an average age of just 24, showcased numerous positives that augurs well for the future.
Career highs for India’s Big 3
Notably, the standout play of India’s ‘Big 3’: power forward Amjyot Singh, point guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (also captain) and centre Amritpal Singh, had them among the top ten players across multiple statistical categories.
Final Statistics[1] (after all 9 games)
The overall rankings below are as on 3:00 pm today and could undergo minor changes after the conclusion of the championship later tonight.
Arguably the most impactful of the big three, Amjyot Singh had 4 double doubles (3rd best overall), 20.9 ppg (3rd best among forwards, 4th overall), 1.1 bpg (3rd among forwards, 9th overall), 8.3 rpg (5th among forwards, 8th overall), +17.1 efficiency (4th among forwards, 10th overall), 73.8 FT% (4th among forwards, 10th overall), 2.7 apg (3rd among forwards), 49.6 2PTFG% (6th among forwards) and 43.6 FG% (6th best among forwards). Singh also registered the highest individual score of the Championship with his 32 points in the key second round win over Palestine.
Amritpal Singh’s tournament average of 11 ppg and 7.8 rpg was the 8th and 9th best respectively, among all centres. His two double doubles was 8th best overall & 4th among centres.
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi tallied 4.8 apg (4th overall), 1.8 spg (7th overall, 6th among guards), 14.2 ppg (8th among guards), +13.2 efficiency (10th among guards) and 42.9% 2PTFG% (6th among guards).
Despite their personal milestones, the laudable ‘team first’ mentality and humility is evident when Vishesh Bhriguvanshi makes light of individual achievements. “I don’t aspire for personal milestones, just for our team to win. If India’s ranking is good, then even our individual rankings will automatically go up.”
The two remaining starters and role players: point guard Akilan Pari and small forward Yadwinder Singh, were the perfect foil to the Big Three, making key contributions in India’s progression to the knockout rounds. The efficient Yadwinder’s 48.2 FG% was 10th overall, while busy Pari was 9th among guards in steals per game (1.8).
Newcomers get exposure
In the later classification stages of the championship, the short staffed Indian side finally had the opportunity to test its bench strength, and national team newcomers at the Asian level such as guards Siddhant Shinde (Maharashtra), Rajesh Uppar (Karnataka), forwards Arvind Arumugam (Karnataka) and Gurvinder Gill (Punjab) made the most of the opportunity of getting valuable minutes on court.
FULL RESULTS OF INDIA'S GAMES
CLASSIFICATION MATCH [7TH- 8TH POSITION]
9) India (Amjyot Singh 21 pts, Arvind Arumugam 16 pts & 9 rbs, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 10 pts) lost to Qatar (Mohamed Hasan 28 pts, Abduallah Matalkeh 16 pts & 9 rbs, Daoud M Daoud 16 pts) 84-58 [14-23, 16-28, 16-18, 15-12]
CLASSIFICATION MATCH [5TH- 6TH POSITION]
8) India (Amjyot Singh 24, Amritpal Singh 18) lost to Korea (Taeyoung Moon 22, Sungmin Cho 16) 72-117 [21-29, 14-30, 15-30, 28-22]
QUARTERFINALS
7) India (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 22 pts & 5 asts, Yadwinder Singh 16 pts) lost to China (Yi Jianlian 21 pts, Xiaochuan Zhai 15 pts, Peng Zhou 13 pts) 58-104 [15-27, 14-29, 11-19, 18-29]
SECOND ROUND- GROUP E
6) India (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 21 pts, 3 rbs & 3 asts; Amritpal Singh 18 pts & 13 rbs; and Amjyot Singh 11 pts & 5 rbs) lost to Philippines (T Romeo 20 pts & 4 asts; A. Blatche 15 pts & 5 stls; and R. DeCampo 13 pts) 65-99 (17-16, 19-26, 14-23, 15-34)
5) India (Amjyot Singh 26 pts, 12 rbs, 4 assts, & 3 blks, Yadwinder Singh 18 pts, 6 rbs, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 16 pts, 3 rbs, 4 stls, & 6 asts, Amritpal Singh 8 pts & 15 rbs) beat Hong Kong (C Wong, 21 pts & 10 rbs, S. Chan 17 pts & 4 rbs) 76-71 (14-19, 20-20, 19-17, 23-15)
4) 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)
PRELIMINARY ROUND- GROUP A
3) India (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 24 pts, 8 rbs, 5 asts, Amjyot Singh 19 pts & 10 rbs, Amritpal Singh 12 pts & 10 rbs) lost to Japan (J. Takeuchi 22 pts & 19 rbs, M. Hiejima 19 pts & 6 asts, and T. Furukawa 15 pts) 65-83 (18-15, 14-24, 20-24, 13-20)
2) India (Amjyot Singh 26 pts & 9 rbs, Yadwinder Singh 10 pts, Amritpal Singh 10 pts) lost to Iran (Mohammad Hassanzadeh 18 pts, Mahdi Kamrani 13 pts, Mohammadsamad Khahbahrami 12) 66-88 [11-27, 19-12, 18-24, 18-25]
1) India (Amjyot Singh 24 pts and 10 rbs, Akilan Pari 18 pts & 4 assists, Yadwinder Singh 16 pts & 9 rbs, Arvind Arumugam 13 pts, Amritpal Singh 12 pts & 9 rbs) bt Malaysia (Ivan Leo 18 pts & 10 rbs, Tian Kuek 10 pts, Liang Yek 10 pts) 102-73 [29-19, 18-13, 26-12, 29-29]
Results to all of India’s games are also listed out here: http://www.fiba.com/asia/2015/India#|tab=schedules_and_results
INDIAN SQUAD FOR THE 28TH FIBA 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) Snehal Bendke (Maharashtra)
About the 28th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship 2015
Second Round Groups
Group E: Iran, Philippines, Palestine, Japan, India, Hong Kong
Group F: China, Qatar, Korea, Jordan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan
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.
For more details on Indian national teams’ tournament history at the international level see: http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/lid_38138_cp/1/rpp/100/tid/301/_//teams.html
[1] double double – when a player registers 10 points or more in two statistical categories, ppg – points per game, rpg – rebounds per game, apg – assists per game, bpg – blocks per game, spg – steals per game, FT% – freethrow percentage, FG% – field goal percentage, 2PTFG% – field goal shooting percentage from inside the three point arc, efficiency – also known colloquially as +/- (plus minus) this stat tallies all the positives (steals, blocks, points scored etc.) and deducts all the negatives (fouls committed, turnovers etc)