Indian men’s basketball team set to depart for 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament
Indian men’s basketball team set to depart for 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament
The Indian men’s basketball team is all set to participate in the 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament, which will be played from 15th to 23rd July 2017 in Taipei, Chinese Taipei.
The team is led by Rikin Pethani and opens the tournament on 15th July against Iraq, followed by games against South Korea, Republic of China – Blue, Iran, Lithuania, Republic of China – White, Canada, Philippines and Japan.
The William Jones Cup will serve as excellent competitive exposure for India ahead of the FIBA Men’s Asia Cup to be held in Lebanon from 8th to 20th August 2017.
File photo: Team India successfully completed a five-peat of SABA Championships by defending its title in Maldives earlier this year. Image credits: Basketball Federation of India Bengaluru, 12th July 2017: The Indian men’s basketball team is all set to depart for the 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament, which will be held from 15th to 23rd July 2017 in Taipei, Chinese Taipei. The team is led by centre Rikin Pethani, and comprises Amjyot Singh Gill, Anil Kumar Gowda, Arjun Singh, Pratham Singh, Basil Philip, Jeevanantham Pandi, Ambati Prudhvishwar Reddy, P Baladhaneshwar, Gurvinder Singh Gill, Prasanna Sivakumar and Muin Bek Hafeez. The teams coaching staff includes S Baskar and Sebastian P J. The William Jones Cup is a basketball tournament that has been held annually in Taipei since 1977. The tournament was named in honour of Renato William Jones, who was one of the founders of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). One team represents each country, and that team could be the national team, a professional club, or a college team. There are ten teams competing in the tournament this year. The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format, and the final points tally will determine the placing of the teams. The men’s team will depart on 13th July from New Delhi and their schedule is as follows:
15th July, 1100 hrs CST (or 0830 hrs IST)- versus Iraq
16th July, 1100 hrs CST (or 0830 hrs IST)- versus South Korea
17th July, 1700 hrs CST (or 1430 hrs IST)- versus Republic of China – Blue
18th July, 1500 hrs CST (or 1230 hrs IST)- versus Iran
19th July, 1300 hrs CST (or 1030 hrs IST)- versus Lithuania
20th July, 1500 hrs CST (or 1230 hrs IST)- versus Republic of China – White
21st July, 1100 hrs CST (or 0830 hrs IST)- versus Canada
22nd July, 1300 hrs CST (or 1030 hrs IST)- versus Philippines
23rd July, 1500 hrs CST (or 1230 hrs IST)- versus Japan
All the games will be played at the Basketball Stadium of Heping Elementary School, Taipei City. The William Jones Cup will serve as excellent competitive exposure for India ahead of the FIBA Men’s Asia Cup to be held in Lebanon from 8th to 20th August 2017. Last year, Philippines’ Mighty Sports club team took gold in the men’s tournament, while South Korea and Republic of China (i.e. Chinese Taipei) - Blue finished second and third respectively. India finished 1-7 in this edition.
INDIAN CONTINGENT FOR THE 39TH WILLIAM JONES CUP
Sr. No. First Name Middle and Last Name Position DOB State/Unit 1 Ambati PRUDHVISHWAR REDDY PG 02/10/96 Telangana 2 Anil Kumar BUKANKERE KRISHNE GOWDA SG 31/07/89 Karnataka/Vijaya Bank 3 Arjun SINGH G 08/06/92 Uttarakhand/ONGC 4 Pratham SINGH SG 01/10/91 Tamil Nadu/IOB 5 Basil PHILIP SG 10/01/91 Kerala/Customs & Central Excise 6 Jeevanantham PANDI PF/C 13/10/94 Tamil Nadu/IOB 7 Rikin PETHANI (C) C 02/12/90 Tamil Nadu/Income Tax 8 Amjyot Singh GILL PF 27/01/92 Punjab 9 Baladhaneshwar POIYAMOZHI PG 07/12/92 Tamil Nadu 10 Gurvinder Singh GILL PF/C 21/01/96 Punjab 11 Prasanna Venkatesh SIVAKUMAR SF 25/09/92 Tamil Nadu/IOB 12 Muin Bek HAFEEZ SF 28/01/91 Tamil Nadu
Support Staff
13 Baskar SAPPANIAMBALAM Coach 20/07/66 Tamil Nadu 14 Padipurakkal Joseph SEBASTIAN Coach 21/05/67 Kerala 15 Devender KUMAR Manager 04/07/56 Delhi 16 Raj Kumar DUBEY Physiotherapist 01/06/68 Uttarakhand/ONGC 17 Peter Santhosh Divaker PEREJI Referee 03/07/73 Telangana
*PG - Point Guard / Feeder, G - Guard, F - Forward, G/F - Wing, PF - Power Forward, C - Centre, PF/C - Post