Indian men’s basketball team depart for William Jones Cup

Bengaluru, 12th July 2017: The Indian men’s basketball team have departed 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 will be 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 team’s 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 departed 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

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