Bengaluru's Sanjana Ramesh and Allahabad's Vaishnavi Yadav win MVP awards at the first ever NBA Academy Women's Camp

The first-ever NBA Academy Women’s camp concluded today with a championship game played between Team Liberty and Team Sparks at The NBA Academy India in Greater Noida. Team Sparks beat Team Liberty 18-8.

Sanjana Ramesh from Bengaluru and Vaishnavi Yadav from Allahabad were announced as the Co-MVP for their exceptional skills exhibited during the three days of camp, as well in the championship game. Siya Deodhar from Nagpur was awarded the Most Improved Player. Grishma Niranjan from Bengaluru was awarded the Sharp Shooter award while Rajvi Desai from Madhya Pradesh was named as the best Defensive Player. Pushpa Senthil Kumar from Kerala received the Coaches award for exhibiting true sportsmanship and leadership skills on and off the court and Khushi Dongre from Maharashtra got the Best Teammate award.

For the past three days, the 18 top female prospects from across India received training from 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame member Jennifer Azzi, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time WNBA Champion Ruth Riley, former WNBA player Ebony Hoffman and former college coach Blair Hardiek, along with former Indian women’s basketball team captain Divya Singh.

The 18 prospects will also participate in the Basketball Without Borders Asia 2018 camp which will begin tomorrow May 30 at The NBA Academy India.

Co-MVP Sanjana Ramesh:

“These three days have been the best of my life. Honestly, every player here is an MVP. We all have improved and I am really grateful to win this award. The camp has taught us so much about team spirit and unity and that’s something that I am going to take back from here.”

Co-MVP Vaishnavi Yadav:

“It’s a dream come true to win this award, especially in a camp organised by the NBA. The three days here have taught me so much more than I have learnt in past. I am pretty sure I will only improve as a player from here on.”

Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Jeniffer Azzi:

“It’s been one of the most exciting and heartwarming camps I have been a part of. There is so much talent as well as diversity here in India and the campers have shown tremendous energy and they are very coachable. I wish them all the best in their journey.”

Two-time WNBA Champion Ruth Riley:

“It’s been an amazing three days and I was curious to know the talent level here and I am really impressed with what I have seen, a lot of potential and the hunger to learn is there. The skill levels are good and I can say the future is looking bright for basketball in India."