India to play Classification Games after losing to Lebanon in QFs

New Delhi/Bengaluru, 29^th July 2016: Entering the quarterfinals of the 24^th FIBA Asia Championship for the first time in 12 years, the Indian Men’s U18 Team took on Group B toppers Lebanon. Starting well, India ended the first quarter trailing by just two points, 21 to 23. The second quarter though was a different story, as Lebanon outscored India 26-9. For Lebanon, Ozier led the charge, finishing with 71.43% from the field on 5/7 shooting. India had 10 points off the bench in the first half, distributed between Gineeb Benny (6 pts) and Sahil (4 pts).

By the end of the first half, the scores were Lebanon 49 – 30 India. At the beginning of the 2^nd half, Lebanon went on a 13-0 run before a three pointer by Captain Baladaneshwar eventually stemmed the bleeding. That led to a resurgence by India, which scored 20 points in the period as against 21 by Lebanon. However, the consistent Lebanon again separated itself in the 4^th quarter to beat India 98-67 and go through the semifinals.

India will now play the first of its classification matches (to decide the 5-8 placed teams) against Chinese Taipei, tomorrow. A win against Taipei will guarantee India its best ever placing since 1972, when the side ended 4^th. You can watch the game here: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En0HfC-Iz5A[/youtube] Lebanon (M Alkhoury 18 pts 10 reb, N Ozeir 17 pts 10 reb, S Ghandour 15 pts 8 reb) bt India (Gineeb Benny 19 pts 7 reb, P Baladaneshwar 17 pts 6 ast, Vishal Gupta 9 pts 9 reb) 98-67 [23-21, 26-9, 21-20, 28-17]

Indian Squad for the 24^th FIBA Asia U18 Men’s Championship 2016

Jersey No Family Name(s) /Last Name First Name(s) /Given Name Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) Place of Birth Height (cm)(ft and inches) Weight (Kg) Position 5 Hansraj 04/03/1999 New Delhi 178 (5’ 10”) 64 PG 9 Sayyed Saqlain Jamir 15/02/1998 Kada, Maharashtra 190 (6’ 2”) 78 SG 11 Rachit 16/09/1998 Delhi 186 (6’ 1”) 75 SG 13 Gupta Vishal Kumar 04/01/1998 Village Chapar, Uttar Pradesh 199 (6’ 6”) 78 C 14 Mohammed Ali 06/04/1998 Samo Ki Dhani, Rajasthan 194 (6’ 4”) 70 PF 15 Deepak 13/04/1998 Israna, Haryana 185 (6’ 1”) 78 F 24 Poiyamozhi Baladhaneshwar 07/12/1999 Ullikkottai Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu 180 (5’ 10.8”) 71 SG 25 Ragupathy Hariram 24/04/1998 Chennai, Tamil Nadu 184 (6’) 72 SG 30 Arthur Wilson Daniel Richards 25/10/1998 Chennai, Tamil Nadu 180 (5’ 10.8”) 74 SG 32 Benny Gineeb 09/03/1998 Potta, Kerala 194 (6’ 4”) 78 C 52 Noushad Muhammed Shiras 04/07/1999 Alappuzha, Kerala 190 (6’ 3”) 83 PF 55 Sahil 02/02/1999 Kalkha, Haryana 184 (6’) 69 SG

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

13) Team Manager: Mr. Ashok Sahu 14) Physio: Dr. Kannan Ratinasamy Bose 15) Head Coach: Mr. Dilip Gurumurthy 16) Assistant Coach: Mr. Paramdeep Singh 17) Referee: Mr. Imran Ali Baig 18) Referee: Mr. Ramesh Koppanathi

About the 24th FIBA Asia U18 Men’s Championship 2016

Venue: Azadi Sports Complex, Tehran, Iran There are 12 participating teams that have been divided into two preliminary groups: Group A – China (WR-12), Chinese Taipei (WR-27), India (WR-52), Iraq (WR-62), Philippines (WR-28) and Thailand (WR-67). Group B – Indonesia (WR-70), Iran (WR-24), Japan (WR-26), Kazakhstan (WR-37), Korea (WR-18) and Lebanon (WR-54). Each team shall play all the other teams within its own group and the top 4 teams from each group qualify for the quarter-final round, followed by the semi-finals and finals. Additionally, placement matches will also be held for positions 3-8. The significance of this Championship is that the top three teams progress to the FIBA Under-19 World Championship that will be held in Cairo, Egypt from 1 to 9 July 2017.

India’s Upcoming Schedule [Timings in IST]

For more details see: www.fiba.com/asia/u18/2016/fullschedule All the matches are expected to be streamed live on www.livebasketball.tv

Championship History

The Asia U-18 Men’s Championship was first held in 1970 in Seoul and has since been held every 2 years (or 3 years in certain cases). China is the most storied team at the Asian level, having won gold 11 times, followed by Philippines (6) and South Korea (3). Coming into this edition, China is the defending champion, followed by Iran (silver) and South Korea (bronze). For info on all time medallists, see: www.fiba.com/asia/u18/2016/all-time-medalists

India’s Record

Prior to the upcoming edition, India has participated in the Asian Championship 18 times, with its best finish coming at the 1972 Championship held in Manila, Philippines, where the side finished 4^th. As hosts, India had conducted the 1998 and 2004 iterations in Kolkata and Bengaluru respectively. From 2006-2010 and in the last 2014 edition, India finished in 13^th place, while in 2012, India managed a higher 10^th place finish.