Supreme Courts: UP College – How basketball became Varanasi’s most unlikely export

This article was first published in my column for Ekalavyas.com on July 29, 2016. Click here to read the original piece.

The purest way to experience Varanasi is to take a boat ride across the Ganga at the crack of dawn, to hear the ringing of temple bells from the ghats by your side, the splashing of morning devotees into the holy river, to smell the incense in the air, to sip on a cup of sweet chai off of the river’s banks, and to watch the entire history of mankind reflect off the water’s surface with the sun’s earliest rays.

Growing up in Varanasi, I was made aware soon enough that there was no city in the world like this. Varanasi, or Banaras, or Kashi, is one of the oldest-living cities in the world, a continuous civilization where the scenes described above would have been sensed uninterrupted from the times of the Upanishads to the age of Snapchat filters. It’s the city that Shiva adopted, where death is celebrated as a release and moksha into continuous permanence, like the city itself.

Because of this permanence, citizens – Banarasis – can be blamed for having a skewed concept of time. The past, present, and future blend together seamlessly, like the peaceful ebbs and flow of the Ganga river. The ringing of temple bells and splashes of oars into the water have been heard for thousands of years, and will continue to be the soundtrack to the city for a thousand more.

But over the last few decades, a new soundtrack has been remixed into the old voices of the eternal city. In the northwest of Varanasi, a few kilometres away from the banks of the Varuna river, the Raja of Bhinaga Udai Pratap Singh founded the Udai Pratap (UP) College over a hundred years ago. Little would the Raja have known back then that the UP College was going to birth an exciting new identity for the city and provide Varanasi with its most unlikely export: Basketball.

The first UP College basketball court was built in the 60s, and by the early 90s, a new court was built nearby in the sports field that has now achieved iconic status. Over the last few decades, this little, cemented outdoor court has provided dozens of superstars for city, state, and country. In 1993, Anup Minz broke through to become the first Varanasi superstar in international India jersey; including him, UP College has produced a total 22 international players for India, including Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Trideep Rai, Arjun Singh, and the popular Singh Sisters (Divya, Prashanti, Akanksha, Pratima).

While the city is better known for its saris, paan, educational institutions, temples, ghats, and lassis, UP College has done its share in ensuring that ‘basketball’ also enters the city’s eternal vernacular.

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Dr. Ashok Singh was a young student at UP College in the 60s when he first tried his hand at the game. Nearly fifty years later, he remains closely involved with basketball and the institution that raised him. Today, he’s the secretary of the district basketball association and a principal at UP College.

“I recall that the court first began in 1961 or 62 with Dr. Aryan Singh,” Ashok Singh says. “Back then, we didn’t know what basketball was and used to play it like kabaddi! But slowly, we learnt the game from other coaches and visiting teams and improved.” Singh eventually played at the Uttar Pradesh state level.

The older court in UP College used to host the Hukum Singh Memorial Tournament from 1974-80, which featured the top eight teams from Uttar Pradesh every year. UP College also hosted basketball at the National Student Games in 1978 and 1980.

But it was with the construction of the new – and currently standing court – that UP College’s place in the national basketball realm rocketed off. Singh mentioned that the turning points were the two ‘Family Gold Cups’ held in 1992 and 1996, a major national-level tournament that truly started the basketball craze among the locals.

A number of young kids from the neighbourhood watched this exciting new game and were motivated to join in, too. Those little kids – boys and girls – forced their way into the court with the elder players to dribble, shoot, and run, too. They were the scrubs back then, the ‘mini’ players who had to do odd jobs like sweep the court or deliver lal peda and chai to seniors.

A decade later, several of those kids became icons of Varanasi, and went on to dominate the present era of Indian Basketball.

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Varanasi Basketball’s fortunes reached their zenith when the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre at UP College brought in coach Amarjeet Singh in the early 2000s. During his time, the talent pool at the ground grew to be deeper than the Ganga. Divya, Prashanti, Akanksha, and Pratima Singh all went on to play for India’s national Women’s team. Divya and Prashanti served as captains while Divya is now a national coach. Trideep Rai, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and Arjun Singh wore India colours for the Men’s squad, with Trideep and Vishesh serving as captains in the past.

“Every year, Varanasi wins at least six trophies in the various levels of Uttar Pradesh basketball championships,” says Vibhor Bhriguvanshi, a local icon, coach of the UP College team and with the district basketball association, and also Indian star Vishesh’s elder brother. “UP College is the best team in the state at the junior level, but the best senior players usually leave to work at ONGC, IOB, etc. or to college.”

Surendra Kumar Prasad, the current SAI coach at UP College, adds, “This court right here is the nursery of so many great players in the country. Players go from here to the Railways, the Army, nationwide. Now, almost every major team in the county has a player from Varanasi.” Prasad, original from Ranchi, has worked on and off at UP College from 2012.

Annually, UP College hosts a major district league in the fall, where some of the best teams in the city – UP College, Atulanand, DLW, Sunbeam School, Rajashri Club, and more – take part. In 2013, the court also hosted the Uttar Pradesh State Senior Championship. Somewhere between the city’s history, spirituality, and education, hordes of fans find their way around the court at every major event.

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It’s monsoon season in Varanasi this year when I revisit the UP College court. The rains have cleared up the skies but turned the city’s notoriously shoddy roads into a swamp. Rain is always threatening to disrupt basketball practice at the outdoor ground, but the players – to whom basketball is a daily ritual righter than rain – are not deterred.

Basketball practice is held from Monday to Saturday twice a day, from 5:30 to 9 AM in the mornings and from 3 to 8 PM at night. It’s a democratic, all-inclusive scene, as the ‘minis’ – the youngest players – hit the court first, in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions, followed by the junior boys and girls, followed by the seniors.

Currently, there are a total of 250 registered players at the ground, starting from six years old. While most players are from UP College itself, Vibhor Bhriguvanshi told me that there are some who bicycle as much as 18 kilometres every day to get to the court.

Whenever local legends are in town, they hit the court to assist the coaches in the practice session. When I visit, Arjun “Golu” Singh, who recently helped India win the South Asian Championship in Bengaluru, and Barkha Sonkar, a recruit and graduate of the IMG Basketball Academy, are on the court among many others to play, teach, and inspire.

Before basketball, however, I had to indulge in the local lal peda, sold fresh every day right by the side of the court for decades. “It’s the best in the world,” says Coach Surendra Prasad, and I joke that it is probably the secret behind the success of Varanasi basketball players.

But Prasad, of course, has a more logical reason. “Players have really struggled for their achievements here,” he says, “The competition is really high. You have ten players fighting for one spot on the team. When they see the legendary players from this court around, they see that hard work can land up a job with ONGC or a spot with the national team. All the young players want to be Vishesh, Golu, or Divya.”

One of these young players is 16-year-old Vivek Punia, who stands out not just because of his ability, but, at 6-foot-8, is also the tallest person on the court. Punia was recruited from Meerut earlier this year and is among the eighteen boys in the basketball division staying at the recently re-opened SAI hostel at UP College. Punia had the height when he first came to Varanasi, but was too weak and thin to be a force on the court. Over the last few months, under the tutelage of coaches like Bhriguvanshi, Prasad, and Karthick Ram, he has improved his game enough and could be a force in the upcoming junior and youth championships for the state.

I’m also introduced to a group of talented girls who have all recently played for Uttar Pradesh at the U16 Nationals, Shivani Gupta, Pratibha Singh, and Shruti Yadav. All three look up to the Singh Sisters and want to follow in their footsteps to success. Another male player, Lav Singh (16), has already played for the state at the Youth and Junior level and is considered one of the best future prospects from the city.

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But, even after such as illustrious past, there are concerns about the future of the court and basketball in Varanasi. Some coaches say that the motivation of many of the younger players isn’t what it used to be anymore.

“The competition level is the same as before,” says Prasad. “But the players don’t practice as much as they used to. Now, they are looking for work more than focusing on basketball.

Additionally, a parallel problem has arisen among those who are motivated, but are stunted because of a shortage of space and resources. Bhriguvanshi says that, with such a large number of players, one court alone isn’t enough to give them all time to play.

“We definitely need one more court here to accommodate the rising number of players,” says Bhriguvanshi. “SAI has opened a hostel for boys this year – now, we need a girls’ hostel, too.”

Another experienced voice from UP College is Arjun Singh, ‘Golu’, who has witnessed first-hand every stage from mini, to senior team stardom, to international success, and back to lending a helping hand to the coaches for the next generation of players.

“For a few years in the middle, basketball progress had stalled here,” Arjun says, “But now with Coaches Bhriguvanshi and Prasad, the young players are picking up the important fundamentals again. If the young prospects here stay on the right path, they can be future stars, too.”

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If a small town like this can become a basketball powerhouse, Varanasi can be an inspiration to hundreds of other similar cities in the country that could unearth their potential with a little more effort by coaches, some good fortune, and maybe some magical lal peda!

UP College has definitely contributed to basketball’s immense growth in Varanasi, but the work is not yet complete. The city has a lot more to offer, and both the SAI and the district need to ensure that players are provided with the coaching and facilities to keep the cycle of international basketball stars rolling uninterrupted.

The author Mark Twain once said that Varanasi is older than history and legend. The eternal city has provided the world with its unique personality and culture for almost as long as civilization has existed. Now, it has an opportunity to make basketball a part of it eternal culture, too.

Start dribbling kids; India needs a point guard

When I was younger, one of my favourite movies was the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny starrer Space Jam (Unshameful disclosure: it still is one of my favourites, actually). What I loved almost as much as the movie though was the soundtrack. Chris Rock and Barry White captured it best when speaking about the emotions of a young wannabe basketball star in 'Basketball Jones'.

Then one day, my mama bought me a basketball
And I loved that basketball
I took that basketball with me everywhere I went
That basketball was like a basketball to me
I even put that basketball underneath my pillow
Maybe that's why I can't sleep at night

Aah. How I wish to see the day when hundreds and thousands of young kids in India will grow up with the 'Jones'. When they fall in love with a basketball as much as they love the cricket bat. When they keep dribbling, day and night, so that the by the time they grow up the basketball becomes an extension to their own body.

No position on the basketball court has more of a 'basketball-an-extension-to-the-body' feel than the point guard. The PG spends (or should spent) more time than any other player on the court with the basketball in their hands, and in my opinion, clearly is the most important guy on the court.

Point guards are in fashion, aren't they; well at least, in the NBA world they are. Derrick Rose won the MVP award and made it possible for a point guard, for the smallest man on the court, to be a volume scorer and be in a fantastic winning team. Iverson of course did it first, but he was never strictly a PG; the likes of Eric Snow were deputised to bring the ball up for him and them let him go ballistic.

Where am I going with this? Well, a few months ago, the NBA brought over Brandon Jennings to India, another 6 foot tall (or short, by NBA standards) point guard who preached the good word that we didn't need to be tall to be an effective basketball player. It's an easy message to be bought by the Indian hoops loving public, because seven-footers (or six-foot-nines, or six-foot-sixes) are a difficult commodity to find. It was the same in China, of course, a country made popular in basketball by Yao Ming, but in reality, most of their aspiring stars, like ours are much shorter and dream of moulding their game in the Iverson/Rose/Nash/Paul etc blueprint.

So, selling point guards in India should be easy, right? If anything, we should be teeming with point guards behind every nook and cranny, basti, and gullie, right?

Wrong.

India is in desperate need of a point guard, or two. Our national team's performances at the FIBA Asia Championship (ABC) in China over the past week proved this point even further. India played four games, lost them all (even the ones we should've won). Our only 'win' was a Qatar forfeit, and we returned with a 14th place finish. It was a disappointing performance, and one that I will get into in more detail when the tournament finishes.

India hired former NBA coach Kenny Natt to be our head coach. Natt, a brilliant and experienced leader, has had some experience with good point guards in the past: he was the assistant coach to Jerry Sloan with the Utah Jazz, where a certain John Stockton (you know, one of the best PGs ever, who holds the NBA record for most career assists and steals blah blah blah) was at the helm. Natt chose to take a different challenge by coming to India, and even before the FIBA ABC began, he made clear that, despite his happiness with the team at hand, there was a little 'situation' in the point guard position.

This is what he said in an interview with The Mint at the beginning of August:

We’re pretty good with our small forwards, and the two guard, and four and five are in pretty good shape too, but our point guard situation is in limbo. Obviously Sambhaji (Kadam) has taken the lead in that respect. He’s a veteran and he’s shown leadership on the floor, but with his age who knows how long his body is going to hold up.

Sambhaji Kadam is the 'Jason Kidd' of Indian players: a smary, savvy veteran, known for years to be one of India's best ball handlers and creators. He wasn't without fault in his prime of course, but few are.

Unfortunately, Natt's worries about Kadam proved to be right, as an injury prevented the veteran from joining the team in China.

What happened next? India were left with able ball-handlers, who weren't strictly point guards, but were forced to play out of position without our one true leader. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, a natural SG/SF, is a great all-round talent, but had a troubling championship because he forced to handle the ball too much and couldn't get into his natural flow of the game. Hareesh Koroth is one of the team's best shooters and perimeter defenders, but his handle and creation has always been kind of iffy. Prakash Mishra is a good guard, but not up to the elite level. And then there's Talwinder Singh 'TJ' Sahi, India's best answer to 'The Answer', who has modeled his game a little too much around Iverson: Sahi is a brilliant scorer but wasn't the kind of floor general/passer that fulfilled Natt's needs.

India did have, in my opinion, someone I felt who was close to the 'ideal' PG to fill in Sambhaji's exalted shoes: Arjun 'Golu' Singh. Arjun Singh is one of the best floor generals I have seen, and who has shown the ability to switch between perfect provider and perfect scorer with ease. But Golu has had a troubled year since his huge performance at the Federation Cup back in February: he suffered an injury that kept him out of the early days at the National camp in Delhi; then, when he was healthy enough to participate, he was found guilty of a minor illegal substance misuse issue; and then he got hurt again. He's still only 21 and may still make that comeback, but we wonder if he will ever live up to the potential that India needs of him.

There are other options of course. Experienced players who are just not good enough to make the cut. Young players with potential to be decent but not great. We need better than that.

After three losses at the FIBA ABC, and three games without a proper PG, this is what Natt said in an interview with FIBA.com:

Natt... I have been around long enough to know it's very hard to compete without a point guard, they're an extension of the coach out on the floor. Our guys have played hard without a point guard, they've shown they can come out and compete.
FIBA: Is it hard to develop point guards without little kids growing up in India with a ball in their hands, playing the game every day?
NATT: That's the way it happens. Even now I see basketballs being bounced in India, and that's when you know you are getting there. When you can drive down the street and you see the ball under the arm, or someone's dribbling the ball or they're playing basketball in the park, that's when you know they're getting the message of basketball. The Indian people love it, it's just a matter of us continuing to expose them to it.

What the great coach is talking about right there is what Chris Rock and Barry White talked about on the Space Jam soundtrack. The Basketball Jones. We need a child to love basketball so much that he never lets go of it. We need neighbourhoods of children competing on who's got the quickest crossover. We need players who become so familiar with the basketball that, in the game situations, they can focus on leading, passing, and creating the play, and letting the basketball do the handling for itself, like an extension of their own body.

So listen: you, 11-year-old in Mumbai or Ahmedabad or Chennai or Kapurthala, with dreams of becoming an NBA star: pick up that basketball and just start dribbling. Dribbling it when you're sitting down. Dribble it when you're standing up. Dribble it when you're studying and dribble it when you're watching TV. Dribble two basketballs, practice the crossover, get faster, dribble while you run, dribble, stop, and quickly start dribbling again.

As I've learnt from personal experience, few things in basketball are as difficult to master as great handle on the ball, but the younger you start, the more you master it. When you master it, you can look up and see the court, run back and forth, easily spotting the open man, deciding the right time to pass, or whether to pass at all. You will do what the Jason Kidds, Steve Nashs, Chris Pauls, John Stocktons, and Magic Johnsons of the world do best. And you will do this without needing to look down at the basketball, which will be doing the dribbling itself; it will become another part of your body, a weirdly-shaped limb that you can control to a certain extent.

India needs you kids: go out and get that Basketball Jones.

India to take part in 3x3 Beach Basketball tournament at 1st South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka

Different twist, same game: if you haven't paid attention to International Beach Basketball yet, it might just be time to start. India will be sending both Men and Women Senior basketball teams to the 1st South Asian Beach Games that will be held in Hanbantota, Sri Lanka, from October 8-16, 2011. India will be amongst eight South Asian countries taking part in the Games, and the 3x3 Beach Basketball tournament will feature four-player contingents sent from India in both the Men’s and the Women’s divisions.

Hosts Sri Lanka will welcome Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan to the 2011 South Asian Beach Games, which will feature competitions in 12 sports: Beach Basketball, Beach Football, Beach Handball, Beach Kabbadi, Beach Netball, Beach Volleyball, Beach Body Building, Equestrian, Life Saving, Sailing, Swimming, and Triathlon.

Beach Basketball is a modified version of basketball which will be played on the sand on a circular court with no backboard on the goal and no out-of-bounds rule. Amongst the several amended rules in this version of the sport, dribbling of the basketball is not allowed and ball movement is to be done via passes or two and half steps. Each team will have three starting players and one substitute.

India will be carrying some modest pedigree into the Beach Basketball format of the game: India’s Men’s team, featuring Pratham Singh, Arjun Singh, Sunil Kumar Rathee, and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, won the gold medal at the 3x3 basketball tournament of the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia. India finished at top amongst the eight participating teams, defeating Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines in the final in the process.

Although they didn't share the success of the Men, Indian Women, represented by Lutukurthy Deepa, Smruthi Radhakrishnan, Stephy Nixon, and Kavita helped the team get the bronze medal after finished third out of the five women's teams in the tournament.

Theoretically, India should have an easier time dominating the South Asian rivals than they did against team from the rest of Asia.

Now, on the questionable 'Beach' format though: I have already written about my reservations of the FIBA 3x3 format, but Beach Basketball is different because it represents a fully 'casual' form of the game, instead of a form that is vying for a place in the Olympics (like FIBA 3x3 is). That said, it is still strange to place a game that doesn't involve dribbling and backboards in the 'basketball' category: if anything, Beach Basketball is much closer to Netball, a game that I've never really been a fan of.

But hey, it makes no sense to dribble on sand right? And you won't hear the players complaining about the 'seriousness' of the game when they find themselves enjoying barefoot hoops on the sunny beaches of Sri Lanka.

Western Railway & Chhattisgarh win thrilling final contests to hoist 25th Federation Cup trophy

In a thrilling and memorable conclusion to the 25th IMG-Reliance Federation Cup Basketball Championship for Men and Women in Raipur, Western Railway (Men) and hosts Chhattisgarh (Women) survived late comebacks by their opponents to lift the Federation Cup trophy on Tuesday, February 15th.

After squandering a 14-point half-time lead to a re-energised IOB (Chennai) side, Western Railway found themselves down by one point in the final seconds of the Men’s final. It took late game heroics from Railway’s point guard Arjun Singh ‘Golu’, who hit a drive-in jumper with just three seconds left on the clock to give Western Railway a 75-74 lead and seal an emotional victory for his team.

Behind leading scorer Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (28 points), Western Railway started off the final well, maintaining a good lead over IOB, and went into halftime up by 48-34. But they started to lose their rhythm in the third quarter as IOB began plotting a comeback. Led by the sharpshooting by Mihir Pandey, V. Mathew Revi (16), and the clutch play of international point guard Hareesh Koroth (20), IOB were on fire in the fourth quarter, barely missing a shot, and overturning an eight point deficit with five minutes to go into a one point lead in the dying seconds. It took Arjun’s game-winner in the last seconds to pull off an exciting Railway win.

Earlier in the day, another exciting game took shape in the Women’s final, as high-flying hosts Chhattisgarh took on traditional Indian powerhouse, Southern Railway. To cope with dominating Center Geethu Anna Jose, Chhattisgarh employed a double-team defense of Seema Singh and Jose Jilna. Their tactic worked early on, as Chhattisgarh played their trademark fast-paced game and led comfortably for most of the three quarters.

But Southern Railway began to make a valiant comeback in the final quarter, as Geethu was finally freed up from her shackles and began to find her baskets easily. As Chhattisgarh began to tire, Railway threatened to come back and steal the game away from the hosts. But their attempt was a too little too late, as Chhattisgarh survived to win 76-71. Chhattisgarh’s unstoppable twosome of Anju Lakra (22) and Pushpa M. (21) were once again the best players for their squad, whereas Geethu Anna Jose dropped 22 points for the losing side.

The matches to decide for third-place also took place earlier on Tuesday. After losing to Chhattisgarh in the Semi-Final, Delhi Women bounced back strong against Kerala behind Prashanti Singh (23) and Asha Hedge (18) to win 70-58. Soniya Joy had 16 points for Kerala.

In the Men’s 3rd/4th place match-up, Indian Army defeated ONGC 68-59 to seal third place. Navneet Singh led Army with 20 points and Anoop M. had 16 for ONGC.

At the end of the tournament, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Western Railway) and Prashanti Singh (Delhi) won the Federation Cup’s leading scorer awards.

Final Scores

Men: Western Railway 75 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 28, Yadwinder Singh 15) bt. IOB (Chennai) 74 (Hareesh Koroth 20, V Mathew Rewi 16).
Women: Chhattisgarh 76 (Anju Lakra 22, Pushpa M. 21, Seema Singh 13) bt. Southern Railway 71 (Geethu Anna Jose 22, Renjini Peter 15).

Third/Fourth Place Playoffs

Men: Indian Army 68 (Navneet Singh 20, Gopal Ram 13) bt. ONGC 59 (Anoop M. 16, Riyazuddin 15).
Women: Delhi 70 (Prashanti Singh 23, Asha Hedge 18) bt. Kerala 58 (Soniya Joy 16).

Leading Scorers

Men: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Western Railway)
Women: Prashanti Singh (Delhi)

Final Standings

Men: Western Railway, IOB (Chennai), Indian Army, ONGC
Women: Chhattisgarh, Southern Railway, Delhi, Kerala

Yadwinder Singh: Indian Basketball's Energy Bar

As the opposing team's best player dribbles towards his basket, Yadwinder Singh claps his hands together, almost violently, psyching himself up on defense. With an agile and quick 6 foot 6 inch frame, he is capable of guarding almost anyone, from speedy point guards to powerful, back to the basket post players. Yadwinder stays in front of the attacking player, blocking his vision at the basket. As the player drives in, he is forced to change his shot, which clanks off the side of the rim.

Yadwinder grunts loudly as he grabs the rebounds - it's his and his alone. He passes the ball to one of the guards on hid team and races ahead, beating everyone else on court to get to the opposition's basket. Before anyone else can react, he is in perfect position to receive the ball under the basket and lay it up. A few milliseconds later, he's back at the defensive end, turning passes into turnovers, and defense into offense, as he shows his range by nailing a smooth outside jumper.

There are few players in Indian basketball like Yadwinder Singh, or ‘Yadu', as we know him. A monster at both ends of the floor, Yadu seems to be on a constant energy rush, as if Red Bull has given him the wings to fly and keep flying. Defense to offense to defense and back and over and over again… There seems to be no full stops to his energy, just commas. Even when the game pauses for a free throw, Yadu will be talking, joking, shouting, instructing. Even when he is substituted out of the game, he doesn't stop, keeping his body warm and ready to go back in, jogging, doing push-ups… Constant movement.

I have seen enough NBA basketball to know of one (and only one) NBA comparison that comes to mind as I see Yadu, a Power Forward/Center, run the floor like a guard, defend and score like a big man, and motivate his teammates with an unbelievable rush of electricity and tenacity: Kevin Garnett.

His own motivations on the basketball court match Garnett's too: "I feel like basketball is a game all about the defensive effort," Yadu says, "For all the effort one puts in offense, you have to do double of that on the defensive end."

Yadu's defensive instincts, coupled with his fast-paced style of play, perfectly complement how his teams play. Whether he is representing Punjab, Railways, or India, Yadu believes that the secret to basketball success lies in his pace. "Basketball is one of the fastest games in the world," he says, "And if you aren't going to keep running, then why play it? If my team plays a perfect fast-paced game, we can be unstoppable."

Easily one of the most exciting players to watch in India, Yadu has become an important piece to the Senior National side, as was a starter for the country at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou (China). Compared to many other early starters, Yadu had a late introduction to basketball, a fact that perhaps makes his quick ascension up the game's ranks that much more remarkable.

Yadu, the son of a farmer, hails from a small Punjabi village called Rasulpur Khurd. He was athletically-aligned from a very young age, but there was another sport that he focused on: Discus.

"I used to be a very serious discus thrower in school," he said, "And I took part in several major athletic competitions on Punjab from my school." He was also part of his school's hockey team.

In 2002, not until he was 16 years old, and at that point, stood at 6 foot 3 inches, did he take admission in a school in Amritsar where his coach encouraged him to try basketball. From that point on, Yadu's career took a dramatic upwards swing: he went from the Amritsar team to the Ludhiana Academy and then to the Punjab U17 team, all within a matter of one and a half years. By late 2003, he had his first senior national experience in Cuttack, had played U20 international for India in Kuwait, and participated in the Champions Cup in Malaysia.

The basketball world in India can be thankful that he abandoned his Discus throwing days behind to start throwing the basketball, but it's evident from some of his full-court bullet heaves that the throwing arm still has a lot of juice left in it. "When I look back now, even when I was younger, I used to watch a lot of basketball on TV," he said, "My Dad encouraged me to stay with athletics and discus, but once I crossed over to basketball, it completely consumed me and I didn't have the time to practice any other sport anymore."

Yadu added: "I started to enjoy basketball game a lot. It was a team sport where there was so much interaction with other people. And everything kept coming naturally to me - I kept on getting what I wanted. It was a great feeling to first play for Punjab, and then it became even more amazing to wear an ‘India' jersey for the first time!"

Yadu credits his early coaches for making him work extremely hard, whether it was his Amritsar coach Fateh Chand or Ludhiana's famed basketball trainer, Dr. Subramanyam. "I wanted to learn everything about basketball," and adding a smile, he added, "I stopped paying attention to everything else - including my studies!"

Constantly upbeat, energetic, and light-hearted, Yadu becomes the heart of the any team he joins. His Railways and India teammate Arjun Singh says, "He has incredible energy - and the best thing about his game is that he doesn't back down to anyone, no matter who the opponent is."

Yadu and the rest of the Indian squad faced the toughest of opponents at the Asian Games in November, and although they returned with an unflattering 1-5 record, Yadu took home a lot of positives: in the coaching and in India's potential in Asia. "We had a really good coach in Bill Harris for this tournament," he says, "With a coach like that, if we keep working hard, we can become top four in Asia."

"The future is good," Yadu says, "My dream is to take India to a medal one of the big championships - the Asian Games or the Asian Basketball Championships." The 26th edition of the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, or the ‘ABC', are set to be held in Wuhan (China) in September this year.

Yadu's optimism off the court, on the future of the game, is as contagious as his optimism on it, where he focuses hard on each defensive assignment, each offensive rebound, and each jump-shot. And if this contagious optimism continues to grow in the hearts of Indian basketball player, we may very well see the day when the Young Cagers make a name for themselves in Asian basketball's biggest stages.

Arjun Singh: Point Perfect

As a chubby young child, Arjun Singh got the nickname ‘Golu’, which literally translated, means 'Round One'. As he grew older though, he left the chubbiness and roundness behind him – but it was another round thing that caught his full attention.

The basketball.

From the looks of it, this new ‘Golu’ in Arjun’s life is likely to stick with him forever.

Fulfilling his potential as an explosive youth star, Arjun Singh has become one of the most respected and feared young players in India over the last few years. Still only 20 years of age, Arjun is already becoming a key ingredient of India’s senior national team. He has starred in several national and international tournaments already, and is looking to cement his position as India’s top choice at the point guard position in the future.

Following the footsteps of his older brother, former Indian international Amit Singh, the Varanasi-boy Arjun started playing basketball when he was just 11 years old. “My brother had a serious knee injury that ended his career early,” Arjun said, “I always liked the game and used to watch my brother playing so well and winning – I knew I had to make this game my future, too.”

Arjun began playing the game at the UP College basketball court in Varanasi, where his ascension as a basketball star mirrored another young player that started with him – Vishesh Bhriguvanshi. Arjun and Vishesh started off playing together at the same age, making it through to the UP Sub-Jr. team together, and then moving on to the Youth, Junior, and finally the Senior level. Arjun also followed Vishesh to Indian Railways, where the duo combined to make a devastating backcourt for Railways’ two of the last three years of National Championship victories.

Arjun’s first experience to a national side was when he was called up to play for the Junior FIBA Asian Basketball Championship (ABC) back in 2008. The youngster got his first exposure of playing internationally in Tehran. He followed this with another call-up when the team went to Kuwait for the Stancovic Cup.

Things started to get better for the youngster: Arjun, along with Vishesh, was part of the squad that won gold for India at the 1st Beach Games in Bali (Indonesia) at the 3-on-3 championship.

2010 was an up and down year for Golu: After playing for India in the South Asian Games in Dhaka, he went on to have his best performance to date for India as the Junior ABC in Yemen neared. A good ball-handling PG for his tall height, Arjun and the Indian Junior Team dominated opponents at the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying matches held at Bangalore. His performances gained him steady crowd support too, and when India headed to Yemen for the tournament in September, he announced his arrival at the Asian stage, finishing as India’s leading scorer in a tournament that was otherwise a disappointment for the talented young team.

“The ABC experience was great,” Arjun says, “This was the second time in this tournament for me and many of the other players. I was able to play more confidently this time. Plus our coach was Mr. Ram Kumar, who is also my coach at Indian Railways. With him on our side, I knew that the training for this tournament was going to much better.”

Unfortunately, Arjun faced a setback at this tournament: despite his good performances, he suffered an injury that kept him out of contention for India’s Sr. Team which went on to make the country’s first appearance in an Asian Games basketball tournament since 1982.

Arjun watched from home as India, after winning their grudge match against Afghanistan in their first game, went on to lose their next five matches against Qatar, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Philippines, and Japan. “We lost, but India played very well,” Arjun defended his fellow players, “The team lacked experience, but still played much above their level through stretches in many of the matches.”

Arjun’s injury kept him out of the team for the Super Kung Sheung Cup in Hong Kong too, but he chose the biggest domestic stage – the National Championship – to announce his much-awaited comeback to basketball. In his second year for Indian Railways, for whom he is the starting point guard, Arjun became a fan favourite at the tournament, wowing opponents and supporters alike with his improving abilities. Indian Railways went on to win their third straight National Championship gold, defeating their rivals, Services, in the Final, 74-62.

Arjun was in scorching-hot form in the final, scoring a game-high 27 points. Boasting an exciting line-up of Arjun, Vishesh, Gagan Deep Singh, Prakash Mishra, Yadivinder Singh, and Kiran Pal Singh, blazed through the tournament in style.

But there is one problem that plagues Arjun despite the domestic success: many of the successful Indian players continue to get caught up in an unhealthy cycle of winning big in domestic tournaments, and then, unprepared to handle better talent, India’s national team ends up suffering internationally. “We need more exposure against better international teams before major tournaments,” Arjun said, “The Men’s team had little exposure together between the South Asian Games in January and the Asian Games in December. We can’t improve if we just keep playing against each other at home.”

Still, Arjun remains optimistic about improvement, both for the Indian National team as well for his own game. “It will take time, but I think we are close to figuring things out,” he says, “We need to make a habit of playing and practicing together to become a stronger side. Once we can find the perfect combination of players in the team, we should be able to improve. Of course, all of us have to remain motivated and keep training harder.”

“I want to keep improving my game, too,” Arjun adds, “Right now, I’m a good passer of the ball and can be quick running the floor. But to hang with international opponents, I have a lot more work to do. I have to add more body weight to take on stronger opponents, as well as try and get faster.”

With a sunny future in basketball ahead of him, the boy known as Golu has come a long way at a young age. For now, his focus is on the next challenge ahead of him: the upcoming Savio Cup in Mumbai, where he will once again lead Indian Railways as the team’s premier feeder. Following that will be the Federation Cup and the basketball tournament at the National Games later in February. Railways doesn’t play in the National Games, but Arjun will be there: A highly touted player, he is wanted both by Punjab (where his current job posting is) and Jharkhand (who, as hosts, can call upon any player). His decision could well bolster one lucky side at the tournament.

Though the young star’s ambitions, clearly, lie strongly with the National side. “I want to keep representing my country,” he says, “India’s position is down right now, so I feel that it will be my responsibility in the future to help fulfill the shortcomings we face today.”

Indian Railways complete a three-peat double of National Basketball Championship

Indian Railways stamped their mark over Indian Basketball as they completed three-years of double victory of both the Men’s and the Women’s squads at the 61st IMG-Reliance National Basketball Championship for Men and Women at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

For the ninth straight year, the Women’s final of the National Basketball Championship was held between budding rivals Indian Railways and Delhi. And for the eight straight year, Indian Railways upheld their dominance in the rivalry and over Women’s basketball in India by destroying Delhi 95-55. Indian Railways have won 23 of the last 25 National Championships, and once again, this was their year in the tournament.

It was more of the same in the Men’s Final, as Indian Railways muscled their way towards a gritty victory against their rivals, Services. This was the third straight National Basketball Championship title for the Railways Men.

After eight days of excitement, from December 28th – January 4th, at the Talkatora Stadium and the Modern School in Barakhamba, the finals of the championship were a showcase event. In the Women’s game, Delhi were no match for Railways’ devastating duo of Geethu Anna Jose (29 points) and Anju (23), as they were blown out by 40 points. Prashanti Singh and Raspreet Sidhu scored 18 and 16 points respectively for the hosts.

In the Men’s game, youngster Arjun Singh caught fire to lead Indian Railways a victory over Services, 74-62. Arjun had 27 points, whereas Jay Ram Jat scored 25 points in a losing effort for the Services side.

In the third place match-ups, Tamil Nadu Women edged out Chhattisgarh in a close encounter, 55-51, behind 18 points apiece by S Kokila and Apoorva Murali Nath. In the Men’s game, Punjab’s superstar Jagdeep Singh found his groove to score 33 points as Punjab beat Kerala 89-67. Amjyot Singh added 16 points for Punjab as they sealed third place. Basil Philip was the top man for Kerala in the match, adding 26 points.

Harish Sharma, the Secretary-General of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) expressed his satisfaction towards a successful tournament. “Thanks to the help of our sponsors, IMG-Reliance, this was the biggest national championship to date. The play on the court didn’t disappoint and it’s obvious for us to see that basketball is growing at an acceleration pace in India. Once again, I would like to thank and congratulate all the participating teams, coaches, managers, support staff, and fans who have helped make this a memorable championship.”

“2010 was a big year for Indian basketball and I’m hoping that 2011 will be even better!” Sharma added.

BFI’s president RS Gill was the honorable guest to present the awards to the winning teams, along with Arjuna Award winner and Indian Basketball legend Mr. Khushi Ram. Both the winning teams received a cash prize of Rs. 1.5 lakhs each. Runners-up were rewarded Rs. 1 lakh each and third-place winners were rewarded Rs. 50,000 each.

Scores

Women’s Final: Indian Railways 95 (Geethu Anna Jose 29, Anju 23) bt. Delhi 55 (Prashanti Singh 18, Raspreet Sidhu 16).

Men’s Final: Indian Railways 74 (Arjun Singh 27, Gagan Deep Singh 13) bt. Services 62 (Jay Ram Jat 25, Dalip Kumar 14).

Women’s Third-Place Match: Tamil Nadu 55 (S Kokila 18, Apoorva Murali Nath 16) bt. Chhattisgarh 51.

Men’s Third-Place Match: Punjab 89 (Jagdeep Singh 33, Amjyot Singh 16) bt. Kerala 67 (Basil Philip 26, Jomon Jose 13).

Final Standings

Women

Indian Railways
Delhi
Tamil Nadu
Chhattisgarh
Maharashtra
Kerala
Andhra Pradesh
Punjab
Madhya Pradesh
Rajasthan

Men

Indian Railways
Services
Punjab
Kerala
Tamil Nadu
Uttarakhand
Chhattisgarh
Andhra Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Delhi

China win FIBA Asia U18 Championship; India finish 13th

The talented squad of Chinese players put the final stamp on a dominating performance after beating Korea 103-80 in the gold-medal game of the 21st FIBA Asia U18 Championship, in Sana'a, Yemen, on October 1st to win their ninth title in 18 appearances at this competition.

Chinese Taipei finished in third place, Iran fourth, and Philippines in fifth.

Heading for this competition, India had assembled a team of talented youngsters who had experience playing together and had generated some positive results before the tournament, leading to heightened pre-championship expectations. Unfortunately, the team wasn't prepared to deal with the onslaught faced in a tough group, as three of their group games to Japan, Yemen, and Iraq.

The youngsters redeemed themselves slightly in the 13-16th place playoffs, rolling by Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka with considerable ease to end the tournament at 13th place. India failed to improve in their last two showings at the competition (2006 and 2008) where they had also finished 13th.

India started brightly against their toughest competitors Japan in the first game, but lost focus in the second half to go down 89-72. They suffered heavy defeats at the hands of their next two rivals, going down 95-58 to hosts Yemen and 87-58 to Iraq. As the Young Cagers had finished bottom of Group D, they were placed in the 13-16th place playoffs, where they finally showed some good play. India beat Saudi Arabia 89-75 and stomped over Middle Asia Zone rivals Sri Lanka 68-34 in the last game to retain the 13th spot.

The poor overall performance of the team goes on to show how far we still need to go to become serious threats in Asian basketball. India seem to have an easy time against teams we are supposed to beat, but regularly buck down early against any tougher competition. I'm still waiting for the day when we start making waves by in a competition like this one by causing an upset or two over some stronger teams.

There were a few silver linings to the performance, thought - India fielded a talented U18 squad that is sure to benefit from the experience. They were led by brilliant performances by Arjun Singh, who played four of the five games and averaged 22.3 ppg per contest. Other youngsters like Dishant Shah and Rakesh Kumar Yadav also showed some potential with their performances.

India qualifies for U18 FIBA Asia Championship

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The future always looked promising for young basketball stars in India, and the U18 team came out and proved it with three massive victories over their neighbouring countries to qualify for the 21st FIBA Asia U18 Championships. India were always favourites to finish top in the Middle Asia Zone qualifying games against teams such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh, but few expected the dominance that the young cagers displayed over the three games, winning each with an average of an incredible 39 points.

The games were played at the Sri Kantaveera stadium in Bangalore from August 12-14th. India defeated Nepal in the first game 50-30, Bangladesh 91-44, and destroying a Sri Lankan side 84-44 in the finale.

India were led by great performances by individuals such as Arjun Singh, Dishant Shah, Shadab Khan, Amjyot Singh, and others.

Sri Lanka will qualify as a second place berth from the Middle Asia Zone along with India. Kazakhstan, who had a podium finish in the 2008 edition of the competition (they lost to hosts Iran in the finals), are an automatic qualifier to the event from the group. India have some way to go to improve on their previous performances, as they finished a measly 13th out of the 15 teams in the 2008 competition.

In the 2010 competition, set to be held in the city of Sana's in Yemen from Sep 22 - Oct 1, India will have a chance to face off against other qualified countries such as Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Philippines, Malaysia, China, and Japan.

The top three teams from this competition will play in the FIBA U19 World Championship 2011 in Latvia.

India's squad for the qualifiers was:

Ajay Pratap Singh (Chhattisgarh)
Sunny Raut (Madhya Pradesh)
Dishant Shah (Gujarat)
Rajan Sharma (Punjab)
Jaskaran Singh (Punjab)
Anant Singh (Rajasthan)
C. Berdinent Carmel Joseph (Tamil Nadu)
Bobby Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
Rakesh Kumar Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)
Arjun Singh (Indian Railways)
Shadab Khan (Indian Railways)
Amjyot Singh (Chandigarh)

Officials:
1. Mr. Ramkumar, Head Coach
2. V. Senthilselvan, Asst. Coach
3. Nilesh Shah, Physiotherapist

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