India three-peat as SABA Champs and qualify to the FIBA Asia Challenge

  Bengaluru, 8^th July, 2016: The Indian senior men’s basketball team has been crowned champions of the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Zone Qualifying Round of the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 that concluded a short while ago at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in the city. India easily beat Bangladesh 95-35 in the final round robin league game to finish the qualifying round with a perfect 3-0 record. This is India’s third consecutive win at the South Asian regional qualification level, and has booked the nation a spot in the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 that will be held in Iran later this September. The trophies and medals were distributed by Sri Ramalinga Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Transport, Government of Karnataka. The other chief guests included Sri Pramod Madhwaraj, Hon’ble Minister for Fisheries & Youth Services, Sri Priyank Kharge, Hon’ble Minister of Karnataka for IT & BT Tourism (both government of Karnataka), Sri K Govindaraj, MLC (Karnataka) & President of Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and Sri Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General, BFI.

Final Standings

(Win-Loss first followed by point differential. For Maldives, Nepal & Bangladesh, the result against India has been excluded in calculating their point differential)

1. India [3-0]

2. Maldives [1-2] (+10)

3. Nepal [1-2](+6)

4. Bangladesh [1-2] (-16)

India beat Bangladesh (95-35)

India grew from strength to strength to finish its SABA campaign in style, with a faultless victory over Bangladesh. Unlike yesterday, when India committed a few errors in its attempt to be flashy, today the side was all business right from the opening tip off. Yet again, veteran shooting guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi opened scoring for India with a jumper as the hosts raked up an astonishing 25-2 lead within the first five minutes.

There was no stopping India inside the paint, as it’s taller frontcourt led by Captain Amritpal Singh, had their way in the paint, with multiple dunks and alley-oops. India had a whopping 68 points in the paint, and when the starters decided to take a breather, the bench stepped in to maintain the scoring momentum. India had 49 bench points as against Bangladesh’s 19, and showed exemplary selflessness with 25 team assists. As many as four Indian players had in-game dunks much to the delight of the crowd. India vs Bangladesh Box Scores

Nepal beat Maldives (62-54)

Earlier in the evening, in a testy encounter between the two smallest teams in the competition, Nepal prevailed over Maldives. Three Nepal players scored in double digits as the side outscored Maldives 19-11 in the fourth to seal the deal after the teams were locked at 43-43 at the end of the third quarter. Maldives vs Nepal Box Scores

Final Day Results (8/07/2016)

1. India (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 16, Aravind Annadurai 15, Amritpal Singh 14) bt Bangladesh (Mithun Kumar 8) 95-35 [36-13, 24-8, 19-8, 16-6] 2. Nepal (Ashim Shrestha 15 pts, Ayush Singh 15 pts, Sadish Pradhan 12 pts, Bikram Joshi 12 rebs) bt Maldives (Abdul Latheef 10 pts, Mohammad Zilaal 10 pts) 62-54 [13-14, 17-18, 13-11, 19-11]

About the SABA Qualifiers 2016

Tournament Format

The tournament is played on a round robin format and the team with the best record at the end of this championship will progress from the South Asian region to the FIBA Asia Challenge scheduled for 9th to 18th September in Tehran, Iran. A round robin tournament is when each team will face every other team in the tournament once, and the final standings will be based on win/loss statistics. SABA serves as a sub-zone qualifier for the FIBA Asia Challenge.

Previous Editions / Winners

2012: Assam: 1st India, 2nd Bangladesh 2013: Dhaka: 1st Bangladesh 2nd Pakistan (India, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka did not participate) 2014: Kathmandu: 1st India 2nd Bangladesh 2015: Bengaluru: 1st India, 2nd Sri Lanka

Qualification for 2017 FIBA Asia Cup

The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge is the second step in the qualification process for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, which will be the first continental cup that will see participants from both Asia and Oceania. The FIBA Asia Cup (starting in 2017) was previously known as the FIBA Asia Championship and the FIBA Asia Challenge (starting in 2016) was previously known as the FIBA Stankovic / Asia Cup. These changes were decided on at the second meeting of the 2014-19 FIBA Asia Central Board which took place in New Delhi on 30th-31st January 2016.

Indian Squad for the SABA Qualifying Round 2016

Jersey No Family Name/ Last Name Given Name/ First Name Place of Birth (City & State) Employer Date of Birth (dd/mm/yy) Height (cm)(ft & inches) Weight (Kg) Position 4 Bhullar Arshpreet Singh Jalandhar Punjab - 02/10/1996 190 (6’ 2’’) 86 G/F 8 Singh Arjun Varanasi Uttar Pradesh   ONGC 08/06/1992 189 (6’ 2’’) 70 SG 9 Bhriguvanshi Vishesh Varanasi Uttar Pradesh   ONGC 13/09/1991 195 (6’ 3’’) 95 G/F 10 Amritpal Singh Ganna Pind Punjab   ONGC 05/01/1991 207 (6’ 9’’) 110 C 12 Philip Basil Sulthanbathery Kerala Cental Customs & Excise   10/01/1991 184 (6’) 76 G/F 14 Yadwinder Singh Rasulpur Khurd Punjab   ONGC   30/12/1986 198 (6’ 4’’) 95 F 15 Pethani Rikin Sajiavadar Amreli Gujarat   Income Tax 02/12/1990 203 (6’ 6””) 104 C 23 Annadurai Aravind Tanjore Tamil Nadu Indian Overseas Bank   05/07/1993 200 (6’ 5””) 95 C 25 Arumugam Arvind Mandya Karnataka   Vijaya Bank 28/01/1991 197 (6’ 4””) 94 PF 44 Bhardwaj Ravi Chandigarh Chandigarh   - 31/10/1992 207 (6’ 7””) 100 F/C 66 Pari Akilan Chennai Tamil Nadu Income Tax   20/07/1989 180 (5’ 9’’) 70 PG 77 Talwinderjit Singh Patiala Punjab   - 20/10/1986 182 (5’ 9’’) 80 PG

*PG - Point Guard / Feeder, G - Guard, F - Forward, G/F - Wing, PF - Power Forward, C - Centre, PF/C - Pivot

13) Coaches: Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph (Head Coach) and CV Sunny (Assistant Coach)

About Basketball Federation of India

The Basketball Federation of India or BFI is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India, and is responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. BFI has been involved in conducting camps, clinics, events, and training sessions at its academies for the development of basketball. BFI came into being in 1935 and took complete control over Indian basketball in 1950. Prior to that time, the Indian Olympic Association handled the conduct of Indian basketball championships. Since 1950, the BFI has been conducting various such championships, from the grassroots to senior team participation in international tournaments. In addition, the BFI has been responsible for the establishment of strong sub-junior and junior level programs. The BFI has to its credit produced several international players of repute, among them 17 have been bestowed with the honour of Arjuna Awards. Earlier in June 2015, 19-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamara made history by becoming the first Indian national to be drafted by an NBA team, when he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks. More information at www.basketballfederationindia.org.