Bengaluru, 12th July 2017: The Indian men’s basketball team is all set to depart 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 is 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 teams 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 will depart 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, Phillipines’ 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
