Is this a new start for Indian basketball?

Amjyot Singh was India’s best performer

Basketball is not a sport which attracts many spectators and eyeballs in India. But a quiet revolution is undergoing in the sport in India. The recently concluded FIBA Asian Basketball Championship is an example of the ongoing trend. Indian cagers created history by coming 8th among 16 qualified nations from the continent. What is more heart-warming is the fact that they qualified for the Quarterfinal stage after 12 long years.

India was drawn in a tough pool in the first round where Iran and Japan and Malaysia were with them. Iran was the defending champions and had won 3 out of 5 previous editions. The Japan squad was no way inferior. In fact, both of them reached up to the semifinal of this edition.

So, in a sense, Indians were hoping to defeat Malaysia in the Group 1 stage to advance to the next round. They achieved the feat by trouncing them by about 30 points. Team India crossed the barrier of 100 points in this match for the only time in this edition. They lost, as was expected, against the other two greats but gave them a tough fight before bowing out.

In the second round, they were clubbed with Philippines, Palestine and Hongkong. In their first match against Palestine, they were trailing up to 3rd quarter.The team didn’t give up and in the final quarter played like a wounded tiger. They snatched victory with a slender margin of 70-73 in the end. This victory proved to be an advantage in the end as it helped them in qualifying for the quarterfinal where despite having same points as Palestine in the group, they progressed to the next round. In next match, Hong Kong gave them a tough time but the team managed to win by 5 points. Against Philipines, they bowed down too cheaply.

In the quarterfinals, the Men in Blue were up against the eventual champions and host nation China. Some were hoping for a miracle again. In the previous edition, Indians had stunned China This time, they could not produce any fight and were beaten 104-58. They were succumbed to 5-8th place matches.

In first classification game, they lost ground to Korea by a heavy margin. In 7/8th place game, couldn’t produce anything and lost to Middle East nation Qatar. Indian played loosely in last two games which cost them respect, if not podium, in the final standings.

Punjab lad Amjyot Singh was the pick of the tournament. He finished as the top Indian scorer. He sparked the stadium with many 3 pointers and control over the ball. At one point of time, he was the leading scorer of the tournament per game. Captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi played as per expectations. Amritpal Singh, another lad from the land of five rivers earned a lot of applauds for his effort as well.

In the end, China stunned experienced old age squad of Philipines on 3rd October in front of noisy home supporters. Iran rescued some pride by finishing 3rd, after defeating Japan.

Some foreign experience to basketball players and specially to coach Sat Prakash Yadav can yield rich dividends. USA’s NBA is gaining and searching ground in India. At present, two of the brightest stars of court, Amritpal and Amjyot have foreign experience.

Both of them play for Tokyo Excellence. The team is very young with the average age of 23. Many players are playing for a long time together. Basketball India is looking to start a Basketball league in India in a year. In many a schools, it is played religiously between cheers and jeers of the mates. All in all, the scene is bright and hopefully, this is a dawn of a new era.