Bengaluru/Beirut, 14^th August 2017:  The Indian men’s basketball team has ended its campaign at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017, after a 78-87 loss to Syria in the final game of the group stages.

 

It was a game of two halves, as India was absolutely brilliant in the first twenty minutes. At half time, India was leading 51 – 35 which grew to 19 early in the second half.

 

But Syria began to stifle India thereafter. They were hustling the Indian men into taking tough shots, while scoring relentlessly at the other end. Syria tied the game at 71 each with 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, before taking the lead for good.

 

The big centres on both sides starred for their teams with double-doubles: Ivan Todorovic with 23 points and 14 rebounds for Syria, and Amritpal Singh with 17 points and 13 rebounds for India.

 

Aravind Annadurai top scored for India with 20 points, most of which came in a hugely impressive first half. While the team will be disappointed at not progressing deeper into the tournament, it was excellent exposure for the younger players looking to build chemistry ahead of the all important 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup (Asian Qualifiers). Grouped with Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, India’s qualification campaign will begin against Lebanon on 23^rd November 2017.

 

Syria (Ivan Todorovic 23 pts, 14 rebs; Micheal Madanly 18 pts; Tarek Aljabi 18 pts) bt India (Aravind Annadurai 20 pts; Amritpal Singh 17 pts, 13 rebs; Amjyot Singh Gill 17 pts) 87–78 [17 – 25, 18 – 26, 25 – 17, 27 – 10]

Bengaluru/Beirut, 12^th August 2017:  The Indian men’s basketball team continued their FIBA Asia Cup 2017 campaign with a 54 – 61 loss against Jordan on Friday. Unlike the last game against Iran, the Indian men sank some early buckets and raced to a 12 – 8 lead. But Jordan fought back and wrested back a one point lead by the end of the first quarter.

 

India did well to stay in the game right through, but Jordan’s Mousa Alawadi scored crucial buckets to maintain their lead every time the Indian men closed the gap. He top scored for Jordan with 22 points. Power forward and captain Amjyot Singh Gill led the scoring for India with 17 points, and Aravind Annadurai grabbed 10 rebounds.

 

The Indian team will also be encouraged by a cameo from 17-year-old Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi, who played with urgency and made some good plays on transition in the second half. With seasoned guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi rested for this game, Baladhaneshwar’s performance was all the more timely.

 

Eventually, this turned out to be a low scoring game, with both teams going on extended stretches where they failed to score. Both teams will be disappointed with their conversion rate, as they shot a sub-par 34%.

 

India will be hoping he is fit for their final game of the group stages against Syria on 13^th August at 2100 local time (2330 IST), in what is essentially an elimination game as both teams bid to finish third in the group and qualify for the next phase of the tournament.

 

Jordan (Mousa Alawadi 22 pts; Mah’d Abdeen 14 pts; Ahmad Alhamarsheh 13 rebs) bt India (Amjyot Singh Gill 17pts; Muin Bek Hafeez 10pts; Aravind Annadurai 10 rebs) 61–54 [15 – 14, 11 – 9, 18 – 14, 17 – 17]

 

Bengaluru/Beirut, 9^th August 2017:  The Indian men’s basketball team began their FIBA Asia Cup 2017 campaign with a 54 – 101 loss against powerhouse Iran. India was slow out of the blocks, and fell behind 29 – 8 in the first quarter. From there on, the lead continued to grow as Iran outscored India in every quarter.

 

Iran are ranked 25^th in the FIBA World Rankings, and showcased their offensive abilities in a clinical performance. They were shooting the ball at an impressive 51%, and had five players finish the game with scoring in double figures. Iran’s 7ft 2’’ centre Hamed Hadadi has played in the NBA (for the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns) and was at his imposing best against India, top scoring with 20 points and dishing out 8 assists.

 

For India, Amjyot Singh Gill was the only player who broke double figures with 10 points. India will be hoping to tighten up its game on both ends of the floor as it looks to qualify for the second phase of the tournament.

 

Iran (Hamed Hadadi 20 pts; Mohammad Jamshidijafarabadi 18 pts; Sajjad Mashayekhi 16 pts) bt India (Amjyot Singh Gill 10 pts; Talwinderjit Singh 9 pts) 101 – 54 [29-8, 21 – 14, 29 – 17, 22 – 15]