India drop five spots to 51st in 2013 Combined FIBA World Rankings

By its regular standards, Indian basketball had a pretty good year in 2013. India participated in four FIBA Asia tournaments over the past year, improving their standings in two (Senior Men and Women) and keeping their final rank unchanged in two (U16 Boys and Girls). But, despite these encouraging finishes, India's Combined FIBA rank fell five spots to 51st at the end of 2013, after standing at 46th place at the same time last year.

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.

Asia's biggest basketball event - the FIBA Asia Championship - was held in Manila (Philippines) in mid-August. India - who had finished 14th at the tournament two years ago - made some important steps to improvement by ending the championship with a 2-6 record at 11th place (out of 16). India's Men's FIBA ranking fell three spots to 61st place.

At the U16 FIBA Asia Championship in Tehran (Iran), despite some encouraging performances, India couldn't improve on their standings and finished at 11th place again. They ended the tournament with a 2-5 record. India's Boys' FIBA ranking fell five spots to 48th place.

Taking part in the FIBA Asia Women's Championship from October 27 - November 3 in Bangkok (Thailand), India finished at a best-ever 5th place, and also defeated Kazakhstan to score their first-ever victory in Level 1 in their 43-year history at the tournament. New Head Coach Francisco Garcia's debut was a resounding success. India also defeated Malaysia to remain in Level 1. India's Women's FIBA rankings remained unchanged at 40th place.

By the end of November, India's Women were in FIBA Asia action again. This time it was the U16 team, which finished 5th for the second consecutive time at the U16 FIBA Asia Championship (with a 2-4 record) in Colombo (Sri Lanka). India's Girls' FIBA rankings rose two spots to 37th place.

India's Senior and U18 teams also took part in FIBA Asia 3x3 championships - and dominated in both of them - but these tournaments do not count in the final FIBA Basketball Rankings.

The fall in the final rankings for India - despite the improved performances - can be attributed to the achievements of other countries. With several FIBA tournaments held around the world in preparation for the 2014 FIBA World Championship, the performances of other teams from various other continents, and the performances of Asia's top squads, has pushed India lower down the rungs.

Unsurprisingly, USA are dominating at the top once again, and are ranked number one across the board in all four categories and the combined world rankings as well. The top five countries in the world (combined) are USA, Spain, Russia, France, and Australia.

China is still Asia's top team in the Combined rankings, while India has fallen a spot to ninth place.

2014 is a big year for world basketball, with the FIBA World Championships being held for Senior Men and Women as well as for U17 Boys and Girls. In addition, the Youth Olympic Games with a basketball tournament will also be held this summer. India has not qualified for any of these tournaments, but they will have a chance to improve their rankings if they can put in strong performances at the FIBA Asia U18 Men and Women tournaments later this year.

India's FIBA Rankings at end of 2013

• Combined: 51 (58.5 points; Change -5)
  
• Men: 61 (6.9 points; Change -3)
  
• Women: 40 (15.6 points: Change 0)
  
• Boys: 48 (13.2 points; Change -5)
  
• Girls: 37 (22.8 points; Change +2)
  

India's squad for 3rd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women announced

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has announced the 12-member roster of girls that will represent India at the 3rd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women, set to be held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) from November 23-30, 2013. India has finished at 5th place at the 2011 championship in Jinan (China) and will start from Level 1 of the tournament this year, along with China, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Malaysia.

The team is currently undergoing their second training camp at SAI, NSWC Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Their first training camp was held at SAI Aurangabad, Maharashtra from August 10 - September 23. The team is now set to head to the CBA Basketball School in Dongguan, China, for a training camp from November 13-21st in preparation for the U16 FIBA Women's ABC.

Head Coach TD Biju and Coach Abhay Chavan will be leading the Indian contingent to China under the guidance of Senior National Women’s Team Head Coach Francisco Garcia.

"I think the Indian National U16 Girls Basketball Team has some talented players," said Garcia, "We need to focus on the overall development of these players. The goal is to train them harder to join the Senior team in the future. This exposure trip to China will help them to play matches under pressure, which will be key to their development. We expect them to give 100 percent and try to get the best results in the Championship."

India's U16 Girls' roster

• Vandana Arya
  
• Vimmy Varkey
  
• Riya Verma
  
• Bhandavya HM
  
• Lopamudra TK
  
• Aneetha PV
  
• Gagandeep Kaur
  
• Sakshi Pandey
  
• Mayukha KT
  
• Mughda Amraotkar
  
• V. Srividhya
  
• MG Shinu
  
• Head Coach: TD Biju
  
• Coach: Abhay Chavan
  
• Foreign Coach: Francisco Garcia
  

BFI announces national training camps for U16 Girls & U18 Boys

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has announced that they will be hosting training camps over the next month for both India's U16 girls' and U16 boys' national squads starting from Monday, September 30th. In addition, the BFI has also released the list of probables who will be attending both these camps.

U16 Girls

The U16 Girls' camp is scheduled to be held from September 30 - November 3, 2013, at the SAI Training Center in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. 16 probables have been called up for this camp, out of which 12 will be chosen for India's U16 team that will take part in the 3rd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from November 18-25. Upon completion of their training camp in Gujarat, the squad will be traveling to Dongguan, China on 6th November to participate for an exposure trip to compete against various Chinese Club teams.

Here are the probables called up for India's U16 Girls' camp, chosen based on their performances at the 30th Youth National Basketball Championship in Kolkata in May:

• Vandana Arya (Chhattisgarh)
  
• Vimmy Varkey (Kerala)
  
• Riya Verma (Chhattisgarh)
  
• Bhandavya HM (Karnataka)
  
• Lopamudra TK (Karnataka)
  
• Anreeta PV (Kerala)
  
• Sandhya CR (Karnataka)
  
• Gagandeep Kaur (Punjab)
  
• Sakshi Pandey (Madhya Pradesh)
  
• Sakshi Arora (Maharashtra)
  
• Mayukha KT (Kerala)
  
• Mughda Amraotkar (Maharashtra)
  
• V Srividhya (Tamil Nadu)
  
• R Selvamithra (Tamil Nadu)
  
• MG Shinu (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Pallavi Kumar (West Bengal)
  Head Coach: TD Biju
  Coach: Abhay Chawan
  Foreign Coach: Francisco Garcia
  

U18 Boys

The U18 Boys' national camp is scheduled to be held at the SAI Training Center in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) from September 30 - October 19. 25 probables have been called up for this camp, which is being held in preparation to build India's U18 boys roster that will take part in SABA Qualifiers in 2014 to attempt to qualify for the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 Championship next year.

Here are the probables called up for India's U18 boys' camp, chosen based on their performances at the 64th Junior National Basketball Championship earlier this month in Cuttack:

• G Sai Sri Harsha Reddy (Andhra Pradesh)
  
• Kanipi Shiv Kumar (Chhattisgarh)
  
• Tarendra Kumar Yadav (Chhattisgarh)
  
• Rajesh (Chhattisgarh)
  
• Gaurav Ohlan (Delhi)
  
• Narender (Delhi)
  
• Nilesh Chaudhary (Delhi)
  
• Pradeep Chauhan (Haryana)
  
• Sourav Kumar Sinha (Jharkhand)
  
• Sowkin Shetty (Karnataka)
  
• Akhil AR (Kerala)
  
• Sugeeth Nath A (Kerala)
  
• Bhrigendra Pratap Singh (Madhya Pradesh)
  
• Lalit Singh (Madhya Pradesh)
  
• Samon Stephen Sandhu (Maharashtra)
  
• Mihir Manoj Joshi (Maharashtra)
  
• Dildar Singh (Punjab)
  
• Hemant Sabharwal (Punjab)
  
• Anmol Singh (Punjab)
  
• Gurwinder Singh Gill (Punjab)
  
• Devendra Kumar Khatik (Rajasthan)
  
• Nikhil Pandian (Tamil Nadu)
  
• M Harish (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Sagar Joshi (West Bengal)
  
• Jowakim Lakra (Odisha)
  
• Head Coach: Jora Singh
  
• Coach: Paramdeep Singh
  
• Foreign Coach: Scott Flemming