India's combined FIBA World ranking remains static at 51 at end of 2014

You may recall that 2014 was a pretty good year for Indian Basketball, particularly the Senior Men's team, who won gold at the Lusofonia Games, won the South Asian Basketball Championship, defeated China at the FIBA Asia Cup, and got the silver medal at 3x3 basketball at the Asian Beach Games. And yet, at the start of the new calender year, little has changed for India's overall ranking among the world's top basketball teams.

Despite their successes, India's combined FIBA ranking (Men, Women, Boys, Girls) has remained static at 51 - the same as last year - after the last update by FIBA on December 7, 2014. This is due to the fact that none of India's successes this year came in the big FIBA or FIBA zone championships, like the FIBA Asia or FIBA World championships. Tournaments like the Lusofonia Games, the FIBA Asia Cup, the Asian Games, the Asian Beach Games, etc. don't contribute to the final FIBA rankings.

FIBA – the world’s governing body of basketball – bases their world rankings on the major FIBA World Championships, the continental championships, and the Olympic Games. Rankings are made based on the performance of each country’s Men’s, Women’s, and Youth rankings where applicable. Youth rankings are based on the performances of the U19, U18, U17, or U16 teams in international competitions.

India's Men remain ranked 61st in FIBA worldwide.

India's U18 boys and girls teams took part in the big FIBA Asia U18 championships but none of the squads improved on India's previous performances. After winning gold at the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Qualifiers, India headed to Qatar for the U18 FIBA Asia Championship. The boys' disappointed, finishing 13th (last), losing two of their three Preliminary Round games and failing to qualify for the next stage of the tournament. Their performance dropped them three spots to 51st in the world.

India's U18 girls once again played in the tougher Level I of the FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women in Amman (Jordan). Thy lost all their preliminary group games but won the crucial Level I qualifier against Malaysia to finish sixth and remain in the higher fray of the competition for 2016. Despite this, India's FIBA ranking in this division dropped two spots to 39th.

India's Senior Women had a quiet and relatively underwhelming year, taking part in only the Lusofonia Games (bronze medal), the Asian Games (sixth place out of 11), and the Asian Beach Games (0-3, seventh place). Despite the inactivity, perhaps the falling performances of other world teams saw Indian Women rise one spot to 39th.

Once again, world champions in all the formats of the sport internationally, USA is dominating the FIBA World rankings, holding the number one spot in the Men, Women, Boys, Girls, and Combined sections.

What USA is to the rest of the world is what China is to Asia. The Chinese are ranked number one in all the various sections across the continent. India has risen one spot to eighth-place in the FIBA Asia Combined rankings.

2015 will bring back the big FIBA Asia Championships for Men and Women - both designated to be held in China - between August to October. The FIBA Asia U16 Championships will also be held, in July for boys and September for girls. India will be hoping to participate in all four competitions and have a chance to improve their world/Asia rankings. The world U19 FIBA Championships - for both Men and Women - will also be held in 2015.

India's FIBA Rankings at end of 2014

• Combined: 51 (58.5 points; Change 0)
  
• Men: 61 (6.9 points; Change 0)
  
• Women: 39 (15.6 points: Change +1)
  
• Boys: 51 (12.9 points; Change -3)
  
• Girls: 39 (23.1 points; Change -2)