Indian Women fall to Chinese Taipei in opening game of FIBA Asia Championship
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcF-5OFbrQM[/youtube]
Wuhan, China, 29 August 2015: In their opening game of the 26th FIBA Asia Women’s Championship 2015, the Indian Senior Women’s team suffered a blowout 92-61 loss against Chinese Taipei in their Group A fixture on Day 1 of the tournament at Wuhan, China.
Chinese Taipei, who finished fourth in the 2013 version of the tournament, was the clear favourite entering this game. Facing an uphill task, India had a faulty start with their opponent storming out of the gates with an 8-0 start. India did manage to stem the flow ending the first quarter down 11 to 22. The second quarter was India’s best of the game. Managing to match Chinese Taipei shot-for-shot, the second quarter scoring was almost even between the teams.
Entering the second half with a 12-point lead, Chinese Taipei further extended the gap between the teams outscoring India 29 to 18 in the third quarter. Chinese Taipei’s Y. Wei led the scoring with 20 points, while S. Peng and Y. Lin contributed with 12 and 11 points respectively. In the fourth quarter, Chinese Taipei continued to drain buckets with ease, thus maintaining their huge lead and cruising to an easy victory.
Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei scores against India. Image credit: FIBA Asia
Poojamol Subhashmon, from Kerala, led India in scoring ending the game with 17 points while Bhandavya HM, India's youngest player at 17 years old, played confidently, although out of position at point guard, to score 8 points. Smruthi Radhakrishnan added 3 assists, while Shireen Limaye led the team in rebounding pulling down 7 rebounds.
India’s young and largely inexperienced side failed to maintain their composure on the big stage and turned the ball over a massive 33 times. Clearly, the team missed starting point guard, Kavita Akula, who was made unavailable for the event due to her college career starting in the U.S.
Coach Garcia will need to ensure that his players take better care of the ball going forward in the tournament. “We competed quite well for around 25 minutes of the game against one of the top 4 teams. Then, our lack of stamina brought us down. Obviously, we missed the services of our starting point guard Kavita Akula. But I must say that we competed better against them than we did in Bangkok [in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship],” said Coach Garcia, after the game.
Their next opponent will be Japan, who they will face tomorrow.
Chinese Taipei (Y. Wei 20, S. Peng 12, Y. Lin 11) bt India (Poojamol Subhashmon 17, Anitha Paul Durai 8, B. Mahesha 8, J. Skaria 8) 92-61 (22-11, 15-14, 29-18, 26-18)
Indian Senior Women's Team at FIBA Asia Championship 2015. Image credit: FIBA Asia
UPCOMING INDIA TEAM GROUP A SCHEDULE FOR 26TH FIBA ASIA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2015
S. No. Match Day and Date Local Time in Wuhan, China Indian Standard Time 1. India v. Japan Sunday, 30 August 2015 3:00 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 2. India v. China Monday, 31 August 2015 5:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 3. India v. Thailand Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:30 p.m. 10:00 a.m. 4. India v. Korea Wednesday, 2 September 2015 12:30 p.m. 10:00 a.m.
INDIAN SQUAD FOR THE 26TH FIBA ASIA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2015
Jersey No Family Name(s)
/Last Name
First Name(s)
/Given Name
Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) Place of Birth (City & Country) Height (cm) Weight
(Kg)
Position 04 PRASANNAN GEETHA Anjana 09/11/1994 Kollam India 177 56 G/F 06 Stephy Nixon 06/06/1992 Chalakudy India 184 79 C 08 KOCHUPARAMBU SUBHASHMON Poojamol 14/08/1996 Kottayam India 174 64 G/F 10 RADHAKRISHNAN Smruthi 15/04/1992 Thaliyil India 175 68 F 13 PALANILKUMKALAYIL SKARIA Jeena 09/01/1994 Kalpatta India 179 64 F 14 LIMAYE Shireen Vijay 13/12/1995 Pune India 178 69 F 18 HEMMIGE MAHESHA Bhandavya 18/04/1998 Mandya India 163 53 G/F 22 MURALINATH Apporva 02/02/1989 Chennai India 180 68 F 33 RAJAGANAPATHI Rajapriyadharshini 03/01/1994 Salem India 189 72 PF/C 77 PAUL DURAI Anitha 22/06/1985 Chennai India 168 66 G 88 TUDU Sitamani 04/10/1994 Bahalda India 169 58 G/F
*PG - Point Guard / Feeder, G - Guard, F - Forward, G/F - Wing, PF - Power Forward, C - Centre, PF/C - Pivot
Team Manager: Mr. Rajendar Manthani
Team Physio: Mr. Radha Krishna Reddy
Coach: Mr. Francisco Garcia
Assistant Coach: Ms. Aparna Ghosh
Referee: Ms. Snehal Bendke
Referee: Mr. Rajnarayan Patro
About the FIBA Asia Women’s Championship 2015 & India’s Participation
Tournament Format
This will be the 26th edition of the Asian Women’s Basketball Championship. 12 teams are expected participate in this championship and are divided into two Levels. Level 1 features the top six teams, while level 2 features the remaining six. League matches are conducted within each level and the two bottom placed teams from Level 1 play ‘qualifying matches’ against the two top placed teams from Level 2. The winning teams from these ‘qualifying matches’ qualify to Level 1 for the next edition of this event while the losing two teams are relegated to Level 2.
Simultaneously, the top four Level 1 teams go through to the semi-finals, followed by the finals. A bronze medal match is also played between the losing semi-finalists to determine the third and fourth placed teams. The winning team qualifies for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While the second and third placed teams go through to the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Tournament history
Prior to the upcoming iteration, 25 editions of this biennial championship have been held so far, dating back to 1965. South Korea won the inaugural edition and leads the gold medal tally overall (12 Golds), followed by China (11 Golds) and Japan (2 Golds). India first participated at this event in 1970, and has competed 16 times in total. The Indian women’s team best finish came at the last edition of this Championship in 2013, when we finished 5th. Prior to that, India’s best finish had been 6th place at the 1992, 2009 and 2011 iterations.
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