Second round action of the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 has concluded for India today at the Twelve Thousand People Sport Hall, Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran, Iran. India beat Kazakhstan 100-90 in its last Group E game to progress to the quarterfinals as the fourth-placed team from the group, behind China, Jordan and Taipei.
India has completed its group stage engagements across the first and second rounds, with a positive win-loss differential of 3-2.
Barring the first and third quarters, India looked in control against the weakest team in Group E. India’s most notable performance came via the energetic veteran sixth man, guard Talwinderjit ‘TJ’ Sahi. TJ shot 9/14 from 2-point range and hit 4 of his 9 attempted three-pointers, all of which came in the first half. TJ’s 25 point explosion in the first 20 minutes meant that India had converted a 2 pt deficit at the end of the first quarter into an 8 point lead at halftime.
Desperately searching for its first win though, Kazakhstan fought back in the third, to tie the match at 71 apiece.
Going into the 4th period it could have been anybody’s game, but India’s veteran trio of Yadwinder Singh, Amjyot Singh and Amritpal Singh showed great composure in facilitating yet another scoring surge. With 3 minutes left for the final buzzer, India’s lead was back up to 10. The seasoned guard duo of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and TJ Sahi joined in, while captain Amritpal Singh had a late dunk for good measure to make it appear as if the win was never in doubt.
Like against China yesterday, India had once again out-rebounded its opponents (46 to 30 on this occasion). This trend goes a long way in illustrating how India has been playing in this tournament, crashing the glass and exhibiting tough defence. The Young Cagers also shot a lot better from the 3-point line (31.6%), as compared to its previous game against China.
Looking Ahead
India now goes into the elimination round as the fourth team in Group E, where it will face F1 i.e. the team that finishes first in group F. This will be either Iran or Korea, depending on the outcome of their ongoing head to head match. At the time of this report, Iran is holding onto a commanding 42-21 lead at halftime.
With tomorrow being a much needed rest day, India’s quarterfinals will tip off on 16th September from 9:45 pm onwards (IST).
Results on 14/9/2016
India (Talwinderjit Sahi 32 pts, Amritpal Singh 28 pts, Amjyot Singh 14 reb 12 pts 8 ast, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 13 pts 7 ast) bt Kazakhstan (M. Yevstigneyev 30 pts, P. Micheev 22 pts, N. Bazhkin 12 pts) 100-90 [19-21, 32-22, 20-28, 29-19]
