India's Men's Basketball team heads to Tehran for 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge: Roster, Schedule, & Preview

Two years ago, India enjoyed their biggest basketball victory in an 80-year history with the game, defeating Asia's number one ranked team, China, on their home turf, at the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan. The victory signaled India taking a bold new step forward in the game, as the team showed the fearlessness to challenge the continent's best teams.

Two years later, the name of the tournament has since changed. But even in its new avatar as the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge, India will hope to continue their path to improvement and cause another shock or two to Asian superpowers. The tournament will be held at the Twelve Thousand People Sport Hall, located in the north & south of the main street of the Azadi Sport Complex. Host Iran is the defending champion while India finished at 7th place in 2014.

An 18-member Indian contingent, featuring 12 players and coaching and management staff, will be travelling to Tehran, Iran for the FIBA Asia Challenge that will be held from September 9-18. Centre Amrit Pal Singh will be captaining the side and the team will be led by Head Coach Sat Prakash Yadav with Assistant Coach CV Sunny.

Earlier this week, I wrote an in-depth preview of Team India's preparation in previous tournaments, balance of roster, and their tactical approach, including an interview of Coach Sunny, for Ekalavyas. Check out the full preview - Ready for the Challenge - here.

India qualified for Tehran after winning the South Asian Basketball Qualifiers held in Bengaluru in July. The FIBA Asia Challenge will feature 12 teams divided into four Preliminary Round groups. India is placed in Group B along with Philippines and Chinese Taipei.

The final twelve 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 Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General of Basketball Federation of India (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.”

Team India for 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge

• Arshpreet Bhullar
• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
• Amrit Pal Singh - captain
• Basil Philip
• Yadwinder Singh
• Rikin Pethani
• Ravi Bhardwaj
• Hariram Ragupathy
• Amjyot Singh
• Prasanna Sivakumar
• Akilan Pari
• TJ Sahi
• Head Coach: Sat Prakash Yadav
• Coach: CV Sunny
• Physiotherapist: Nikhil NP
• Manager: Shaktikumar Mahipatsinh Gohil
• FIBA Commissioner: Norman Swaroop Issac
• Referee: Atanu Banerjee

The FIBA Asia Challenge was previously known as the FIBA Asia Cup. It is the first step in the qualification process for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.

The top 5 teams will earn for their respective sub-zones an extra berth at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, which will be the first inter-continental tournament featuring teams from both Asia and Oceania (like Australia & New Zealand). The top teams from the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in turn qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Preliminary Round Grouping

• Group A: China, Jordan, Kazakhstan
  
• Group B: Philippines, India, Chinese Taipei
  
• Group C: Iran, Qatar, Iraq
  
• Group D: Japan, Korea, Thailand
  

India’s Preliminary Round Schedule (all times IST)

• India vs Philippines – 9th September, 09:45 PM
  
• India vs Chinese Taipei – 10th September, 05:15 PM
  

Both Preliminary Round opponents (Philippines and Chinese Taipei) are ranked higher than India, but there is reason for India to feel confident after the preparation matches at the William Jones Cup last month against the two Taipei teams and Mighty Sports at the William Jones Cup. India defeated Taipei’s “B” team and lost to the “A” team in overtime. Chinese Taipei will be without many of their experienced stars at the FIBA Asia Challenge, although India will have to watch out for the explosive talents of Quincy Davis. Meanwhile, the Philippines will be sending a team without naturalised players and won’t have too many stars from their domestic league in this national team.

The format at this tournament is a strange one. All twelve participating teams from the four preliminary round groups will qualify for the second round, regardless of their results, but carrying on their previous win/loss records. They will be placed into two new groups of six teams each in the Second Round, and the top four teams from each of these groups (a total of eight) will then qualify for the Quarter-Final/Knockout stage.

India is likely to cross paths later in the tournament with several more of the favourites, including two-time winners Iran, who will feature Asian basketball legend Hamed Haddadi, and China, who are once again sending a weaker team but will still be a handful to deal with. India will hope to finish with a better record than teams like Kazakhstan, Thailand, and Qatar, and if they can finish in the top four of the Second Round, they will be looking at another top eight finish and the Quarter-Final stage.

Check out my column for Ekalavyas for a more in-depth preview.

Indian Senior Men’s Basketball team returns to the prestigious William Jones Cup in Taipei

Held since 1977, the William Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei is one of the most prestigious international basketball tournaments in Asia, an invitational championship that is both a source of pride and an important warm-up run for bigger FIBA Asia basketball events. After 11 long years, India Men's basketball team will finally make a return to the tournament this year.

Nine teams - a mix of international, clubs, and college - will take part in the 38th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament at the Hsinchuang Gymnasium in the city of Taipei from 23 to 31 July. The matches will be played in a round robin league format, with each team playing 8 matches. The team with the best record will be crowned champions.

This tournament will give India the opportunity to gain valuable exposure ahead of the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge, which is set to be held in Iran next month. The Indian lineup remains largely unchanged from the team that won the SABA Qualifiers earlier this month in Bengaluru, except for the return of star forward Amjyot Singh and the inclusion of Tamil Nadu’s Prasanna Venkatesh. Amrit Pal Singh will again take the captain's mantle for India and will be joined in the flanks with star Vishesh Bhriguvanshi. The team will be coached by Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph.

"Being a prestigious tournament, the Indian men’s team got an invitation from the Taipei Basketball Association," said K Govindraj, the President of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) during the kit distribution ceremony at the Kanteerava Stadium Complex in Bengaluru earlier this afternoon on Thursday, "This will be excellent exposure for all our players who can correct themselves keeping in mind the upcoming FIBA Asia Challenge." Also present at the ceremony to convey his best wishes to the departing contingent was newly appointed Superintendent of Police & Director, Youth Empowerment & Sports Department, Bengaluru, Anupam Agarwal.

"It is going to be a great opportunity for us to prepare for the upcoming FIBA Asia Challenge," said Assistant Coach CV Sunny, "In all our positions, we have excellent depth and our chances are bright, so we can definitely put up a good fight against all the teams."

Participating Teams: Egypt, Iran, India, Japan, Korea, Mighty Sports (Philippines), California State University (USA), China, China B.

Indian Squad for the 38th William Jones Cup 2016

• Arshpreet Singh Bhullar
• Amjyot Singh
• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
• Amrit Pal Singh Captain
• Basil Philip
• Rikin Pethani(
• Aravind Annadurai
• Arvind Arumugam
• Ravi Bhardwaj
• Akilan Pari
• TJ Sahi
• Prasanna Ventakesh
• Head Coach: Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph
• Coach: CV Sunny
• Physiotherapist: Navaneeth Atholi Thiruvoth
• Manager: Chengalraya Naidu Talipinani

This is an impressive-looking Indian squad, and the addition of Amjyot can definitely help India achieve something special. Amjyot and India's captain Amrit Pal played last season for Japan D-League's Tokyo Excellence and helped guide them to a third-consecutive title. The last time Amjyot donned India colours, he was one of the top performers at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship finishing among the top 5 in scorers (20 ppg), and among the top ten in rebounds (8.3 rpg), blocks (1.1 bpg), efficiency (+17.1), and freethrow percentage (73.1 FT%). India has an interesting core of youth (Ravi Bhardwaj, Arshpreet Bhullar) and experience (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Prasanna Venkatesh). Explosive point guard TJ Sahi continues his return to the national scene. Talented young big men like Rikin Pethani, Aravind Annadurai, and Bhardwaj will also make India one of the longest teams at the tournament. India has long needed this type of exposure tournaments before bigger FIBA Asia clashes - the William Jones Cup will provide the team with the perfect platform to fine-tune their chemistry and cause some shocks at the Asian stage.

Team India's Schedule - All timings IST

• India vs California State University – 23rd July, 12:30 PM
• India vs Japan – 24th July, 12:30 PM
• India vs China – 25th July, 4:30 PM
• India vs Korea – 26th July, 12:30 PM
• India vs Egypt – 27th July, 10:30 AM
• India vs Mighty Sports – 28th July, 10:30 AM
• India vs China B – 29th July, 10:30 AM
• India vs Iran – 31st July, 10:30 AM

The schedule, as you can see, is relentless. All the teams will play in eight games in nine days, which is sure to take a toll on the players by the end of the tournament. On paper, India is the lowest rank national team, and the other squads from the USA, Philippines, and China will also prove to be huge challenges for the Young Cagers. Hopefully India can avoid injuries, post a respectable finish, and be in decent health and form for the FIBA Asia Challenge next month.

The William Jones Cup is a prestigious annual invitational tournament, the inaugural edition of which was held in 1977. The Cup was conceived and named to honour Dr. Renato William Jones, who served as one of the founders of FIBA and served as its first Secretary General for 44 years. Iran is the tournament's defending champion, while the team from the USA has been the most successful in the competition, with 15 gold medal finishes. The last time the Indian men’s team competed at the William Jones Cup was way back in 2005. The Indian Women's team, however, played in the 2011 and 2012 editions of the Cup.

India win 2016 SABA Qualifiers in Bengaluru and qualify for FIBA Asia Challenge

Once again, Team India proved to be in a class of their own at the South Asian level. With three convincing victories from July 6-8, India steamrolled through opponents from Nepal, Maldives, and Bangladesh to a perfect 3-0 record at the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) qualifiers and clinched their qualification for the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge. India hosted the qualifiers at Bengaluru's Sri Kantaveera Stadium this week.

Captained by big man Amrit Pal Singh with head coach Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph calling the shots from the sidelines, India showed no hitch or hint of letdown against teams from neighbouring nations. The three victories were notched up by an impressive average margin of 48 points each.

India's campaign to qualify for the FIBA Asia Challenge got underway on Wednesday, July 6 against Nepal, who eventually staked their claim as the second-best team at the tournament. India started in the best way possible, on a 17-0 run and holding on to a 23-4 advantage at the end of the first quarter. While Nepal showed considerable improvement in the second period, India did just enough after halftime to post an insurmountable lead and notch a 81-53 victory.

India had a major size advantage in Game 2 against Maldives on Thursday, and despite some inconsistencies and unforced errors, they again started off on fire (23-5) and held a comfortable 37 point lead at halftime. India remained on cruise control in the second half and a fourth-quarter flurry saw them extend the lead to a huge, 96-40 win.

India took no chances in the final win against Bangladesh on Friday, July 8, putting up their best defensive performance of the tournament en route to a 95-35 victory. India outscored Bangladesh by double digits in each quarter. Experienced guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was India's leading scorer with 16.

Final Rankings

• 1. India [3-0]
• 2. Maldives [1-2] (+10)
• 3. Nepal [1-2](+6)
• 4. Bangladesh [1-2] (-16)

The trophies and medals were distributed by Ramalinga Reddy, Minister for Transport of Government of Karnataka. The other chief guests included Pramod Madhwaraj (Karnataka's Minister for Fisheries & Youth Services) Priyank Kharge (Minister of Karnataka for IT & BT Tourism, K Govindaraj, MLC (Karnataka) & President of Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General of BFI.

India will be thrilled to see the team play in some international games and get a feel for the system and each other before the bigger upcoming international challenges. The likes of Amrit Pal Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and Yadwinder Singh will have to continue to be positive influences for the team, while the enigmatic point guard TJ Sahi returned to the squad in style. Youngsters like Arshpreet Bhullar and Ravi Bhardwaj made their national team debut, and India saw some impressive performances by Karnataka's Arvind Arumugam, too. The biggest name missing from this list is of Amjyot Singh, India's superstar forward who is currently playing in Japan and hopes to return to the national team by the time the FIBA Asia Challenge begins.

This was India's fourth win in the last five edition of the SABA Qualifiers. The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge is set to be held in Tehran, Iran, from September 9-18. It is the second step in the qualification process for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, which will be the first continental cup that will see participants from both Asia and Oceania. The FIBA Asia Cup (starting in 2017) was previously known as the FIBA Asia Championship and the FIBA Asia Challenge (starting in 2016) was previously known as the FIBA Stankovic / Asia Cup.