Senior Indian men’s basketball squad ready for 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge

India’s basketball team qualified after their victory in the qualifying round in Bengaluru

The senior Indian men’s basketball team is all set to represent the country at the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge, which will be held between 9th to 18th September in Tehran, Iran. The squad for the same has been finalized.

The Indian team had qualified to the FIBA Asia Challenge after easily winning the South Asian Qualifying round that was held in Bengaluru earlier this July.

There are 12 participating teams divided into 4 preliminary groups of 3 teams each. India is in preliminary Group B with Philippines and Chinese Taipei. All 12 teams from the preliminary rounds progress to the second round, from where the top 8 teams will progress to the knockout stages.

It is to be recalled that in the previous edition of this tournament in 2014, India had famously upset China, and will be looking to repeat its strong showing against Asia’s best teams. Host Iran is the defending champion.

The Squad

The final 12 members of the squad who will represent India at the FIBA Asia Challenge were selected at the end of a nearly one-month long training camp held at NMAM Institute of Technology (NITTE) in Karkala, Udupi district of coastal Karnataka.

While the Indian side remains largely unchanged from last month’s 38th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament, there are a couple of key changes. Veteran swingman and defensive stopper Yadwinder Singh returns to the team and is expected to provide much-needed versatility on both ends of the floor in terms of matchups.

Also, teenager Hariram Ragupathy, one of the stars from India’s historic 8th place finish at the 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship, makes his debut into the senior team.

A small ceremony was held at the NITTE campus to bid farewell to the Indian squad, which was attended by Mr. Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General of BFI.

“On behalf of BFI I convey my sincere thanks to NITTE University management, who for the last two years have been continuously providing us all the training facilities for the Indian team. This is one of the best campus facilities I have seen,” said Mr Sharma.

Addressing the departing contingent, he said, “Ultimately, it is the outcome of your efforts which will benefit basketball in India. You are the players who are icons for all other players in the country. So I wish you all the success and that you put up a performance that is even better than in all the previous championships that you have attended.”

Senior Men’s Squad for the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016

Jersey

No

Family Name(s)

/Last Name

First Name(s)

/Given Name

Place of Birth

(City and State)

Date of Birth

(dd/mm/yyyy)

Height

(cm)

(ft & inches)

Weight

(Kg)

Position

4

Bhullar

Arshpreet Singh

Jalandhar

Punjab

02/10/1996

190 (6’ 3’’)

86

G/F

9

Bhriguvanshi

Vishesh

Varanasi

Uttar Pradesh

13/09/1991

195 (6’ 5’’)

95

G/F

10

Amritpal Singh

Ganna Pind

Punjab

05/01/1991

207 (6’ 9.5’’)

110

C

12

Philip

Basil

Sulthanbathery

Kerala

10/01/1991

184 (6’)

76

G/F

14

Yadwinder

Singh

Rasulpur Khurd

Punjab

30/12/1986

198 (6’ 6’’)

95

F

15

Pethani

Rikin

Sajiavadar Amreli

Gujarat

02/12/1990

203 (6’ 8”)

104

C

22

Bhardwaj

Ravi

Chandigarh

Chandigarh

31/10/1992

207 (6’ 9”)

100

F/C

25

Ragupathy

Hariram

Chennai

Tamil Nadu

24/04/1998

184 (6’)

72

SG

27

Amjyot Singh

Chandigarh

Punjab/ Haryana

27/01/1992

203 (6’ 8”)

104

F

46

Sivakumar

Prasanna Venkatesh

Gobichettipalayam

Tamil Nadu

25/09/1992

186 (6’ 1”)

85

G/F

66

Pari

Akilan

Chennai

Tamil Nadu

20/07/1989

180 (5’ 10’’)

70

PG

99

Talwinderjit Singh

Patiala

Punjab

20/10/1986

182 (5’ 11’’)

80

PG

*PG - Point Guard / Feeder, G - Guard, F - Forward, G/F - Wing, PF - Power Forward, C - Centre, PF/C - Post

13) Coach: Sat Prakash Yadav

14) Coach: C. V. Sunny

15) Physiotherapist: Nikhil N. P.

16) Manager: Shaktikumar Mahipatsinh Gohil

17) FIBA Commissioner: Norman Swaroop Issac

18) Referee: Atanu Banerjee

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Format

The initial round of the tournament will be played in a round-robin format. The 12 participating teams have been divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each, and each team will play the 2 teams that are in the same group as them.

Preliminary Round Grouping

Group A: China, Jordan, Kazakhstan

Group B: Philippines, India, Chinese Taipei

Group C: Iran, Qatar, Iraq

Group D: Japan, Korea, Thailand

All 12 preliminary round teams will advance to the second round, where they will be divided into 2 teams of 6 each. Each team will then play the 3 new teams in its group. The top 4 teams from each of the second round groups will then move on quarter-finals, followed by the semifinals and finals.

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India’s Tournament Schedule (all times IST)

Round 1

vs Philippines – 9th September, 09:45 PM

vs Chinese Taipei – 10th September, 05:15 PM