In Jeena PS, a new leader emerges for the future of Indian basketball

Born in Kalpetta, Wayanad, about a six hour drive up north from Geethu Anna Jose’s hometown of Kotayyam in the same Southern Indian state of Kerala, young Jeena PS looked up to the Keralite heroine as role model. Little did the teenager know that, as she watched Jose go from becoming India’s best to WNBA hopeful, she herself would develop from a basketball newcomer to the nation’s hottest young talent.

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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.”

Tamil Nadu run ’n gun into the Final!

With no shortage of attacking talent, the Tamil Nadu Junior Boys’ team are making waves over at the 61st IMG-Reliance National Basketball Championships at Vashi (Navi Mumbai). Led by the wily and skilled star G. Sivabalan, TN boast of a balanced squad that is starting to peak at the right time.

“We have a stronger team than last year,” said Sivabalan, who was one of the youngsters in last year’s squad that were knocked out in the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament, “The difference this time around is our ball-handlers, who have given us an edge.”

TN have been playing some beautiful basketball at Vashi, winning all but one game at the tournament. Their only loss came against a motivated Rajasthan side in a group game, where their opponents pulled away in the last minutes to win by four points.

Apart from that setback, TN have been in scintillating form, easily beating Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and sneaking past their toughest opponent, Punjab, 73-69 in a group game. In the semi-final against Karnataka, TN scored a tournament high 109 points in their high-speed run ’n gun style.

And at the helm of this offensive assault has been star forward Sivabalan. Armed with an unstoppable quick step and uncanny ability to finish tough lay-ups around the basket, the 6’2” player has been a nightmare for defenders all tournament. He has also shown nerves of steel, playing the best basketball in the tougher games. Sivabalan scored 24 points in the loss to Rajasthan, 28 points in a quarter-final win against Kerala, and 26 more points in the semi-final victory against Karnataka.

But he isn’t alone; aiding TN’s cause is GB Carmel Joseph, the experienced forward who has recently returned from playing for the Indian U18 team at the FIBA ASIA U18 Championship in Yemen. Players such as big man A. Aravind, S. Senthil Murugan, and KS Prasanna have been the pillars of this team.

Now, Tamil Nadu are set to face their toughest opponents, Punjab. Punjab are the tallest team in the tournament and have thus far proven difficult to beat. But TN have edged them before in the championship and will be looking to do it again.

“We have a lot of coordination amongst the players,” says Carmel Joseph, “Our offense style is freelance, and we can change our game according to the opponent.”

Sivabalan is confident that the team can go all the way. But Punjab are one of the most feared teams of the tournament, and the youngster will need to bring out his big game heroics once again if TN aim to raise the championship trophy on Sunday night.

Dishant Shah: Sky's the Limit

If it hadn’t been for a few encouraging coaches, we would have lost one of India’s rising young basketball talents to another sport.

At 18, Dishant Shah from Baroda is slowly beginning to make a name for himself at the highest level of basketball in the country. The undersized center (he’s 6’8”) just returned from Yemen after captaining the Indian junior side at the U18 FIBA Asia Championship. Upon his return to India, he was the only junior player invited to train with the Sr. National Men’s team that is preparing for the Asian Games.

But all this could’ve been so very different. It was only five years ago when Dishant was busy spending his time perfecting another sport.

“I used to have interest in cricket before,” said Dishant, “That is all I used to play.”

Fair enough – nearly every child that has breathed the Indian air has at some point thrown a cricket ball or dreamt perfecting that square drive. But luckily for the Indian hoop world, a basketball coach approached Dishant to take up a different game after he noticed the youngster’s sudden spurt in height.

“I admit I didn’t like basketball that much in the beginning,” said Dishant, “It was a completely different sport. But when I hit the court and started playing a lot, I saw a sudden improvement. I began to enjoy myself because soon after I was chosen for the Gujarat Sub-Junior team.”

As the national tournaments and call-ups became more frequent, Dishant became more motivated towards basketball, and his love affair with the game grew deeper. He played his first Sub-Jr. Nationals in Billai, right after which he was selected for the Indian Sub-Jr. team. He kept on being invited to more camps. In July 2008, he captained the Indian Youth (U16) team to the Children of Asia International Sports and Games in Russia.

A month later, Dishant was promoted to the Junior squad, joining the team to the U18 FIBA Asia Championships in Tehran (Iran). Dishant kept reaching for higher, and as his performances improved, so did the attention.

He received his very first senior team call-up in 2008, when he was part of a young squad that went to Hong Kong for the Super Kung Sheung Cup.

Dishant was also chosen for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders – Asia camp that took place in Beijing in 2009. “The BWB was a great experience,” said Dishant, “Several NBA players were there as coaches and we learnt a lot from them.”

A simple twist of fate, a change of sport, and voila… The country saw the development of a devastating basketball talent. Dishant captained the U18 squad Middle Asia Zone qualifying for the FIBA Asia Championships, and after dominating their opponents, the team travelled to Sana’a (Yemen) for the final tournament. India finished 13th overall, but Dishant was still proud of his team's performance.

“We need to keep taking part in competitions like this,” he said of the tournament in Yemen, “It brings us great experience and makes us confident.”

India was grouped with Japan, hosts Yemen, and Iraq. Although they lost all their three group games, Dishant said that the game against a tough Japan side brought out the best in the squad. “We were actually leading up until the last four minutes,” he said, “And then their great three-point shooters brought us down.”

Dishant was one of the strongest performers for India at this stage, and his height and versatility caught the attention of new Indian Sr. Men’s coach Bill Harris, who called the youngsters to Chennai to try-out for the Senior squad. Dishant is amongst the select squad of 14, 12 of whom will be part of the final team to travel to Guangzhou (China) next month for the basketball tournament in the 2010 Asian Games.

So far, Dishant has been playing at the center position for this squad, too – India has an undersized team, but Dishant believes that they will be able to overcome their height disadvantage under the new coach. “Yes, India is a short team and we will face many bigger players in China, but we cannot back down from anyone just because they are taller,” said the confident young star, “We have to use certain defensive techniques to negate opposing big men. We have to simply pay attention to our basics and fundamentals and we should do fine.”

“What we need most is coordination and teamwork amongst ourselves – although we have some good individual players in the squad like Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Jagdeep Singh, Yadvinder Singh, and others, it is important to know that basketball is a team game, and we will be able to compete as long as we play in that way.”

Dishant himself as an excellent post game, featuring a smooth shooting touch from inside the ‘D’. Whether or not he makes the final cut, this is sure to be another important experience for a player who has rapidly improved from a cricketer/basketball novice to U18 captain and member of the Indian senior team. “I have already been very motivated ever since I was called for these tryouts,” said Dishant, “I want to make the best out of it. I am a younger player and I want to learn from all the talented seniors around.”

Dishant has also sung praises of his new coach. “Coach Harris’ main strength is in defense, and we are feeding off that. A good defensive team always wins. We have been emphasizing on certain defensive tactics with the coach, such as on-the-ball defense, recovery, and providing help defense to a teammate that has been beaten – this is something that we don’t usually do in India.”

“We have a good coach, so our chances for the Asian Games are good. I hope that we can bring back some good results.”

From a casual young cricketer to a budding basketball star, Dishant Shah has already come a long way. He may be a fresher on the senior team, but seeing the pace with which he has already achieved success, there is no doubt that in the near future he blooms into one of India’s leading basketball players.

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.

U18 team for FIBA Asia Championship for Men in Yemen

The Indian U18 men’s squad, set to represent the country in the 21st FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Men in Sana’a (Yemen), from September 22 – October 1, was recently finalised. The contingent of 12 players, accompanied by two coaches, a physiotherapist, and two FIBA referees, left for Yemen on Sunday, September 19th.

The Young Cagers will play their first game against Japan on September 22nd.

The full U18 squad is:

Rakesh Kumar Yadav
Shadab Khan
Bobby Singh
Rajan Sharma
Arjun Singh
Amjyot Singh
Sunny Raut
Jaskaran Singh Gill
Anant Singh
Dishant Vipul Shah
Ajay Pratap Singh
Berdinent Carmel Joseph Charles Patrick

Head Coach: Ram Kumar Gahlawat
Coach: Senthilselvan Ventriselvan
Physiotherapist: Nilesh Bharat Shah
FIBA Referee: Rajan Vellingirinathan
FIBA Referee: Sharad Vasant Bansode

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has also named two stand-by players for the competition: Kirti Goswami and Sukhjeet.

India is amongst the 16 teams in this tournament, qualifying in Group D along with Japan, Iraq, and hosts Yemen. The squad will try to improve its performance in this tournament from the last U18 FIBA Asia Championships which were held in Tehran (Iran) in 2008 – India only managed finish 13th in that competition.

The schedule for India’s first round games is (With Local time at Sana’a):

Sep 22 – 12:00: India vs. Japan
Sep 23 – 19:00: India vs. Yemen
Sep 24 – 09:00: Iraq vs. India

The top three teams from each group will move on to the second round stage from September 25-29th, before the Quarter and Semi-Finals. The finals of the tournament will be held on Friday, October 1st.

India showed a strong performance to qualify for this competition when the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying Round games were played in Bangalore from August 12-14th, as they went on to beat rivals Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by an average of 39 points in each game.

India to play to face Japan, Iraq, and hosts Yemen at U18 FIBA Asia Championship

A team of Indian youngsters will head to the city of Sana’a in Yemen to take part in the 21st FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Men, held from September 22 – October 1.India is amongst the 16 teams in this tournament, qualifying in Group D along with Japan, Iraq, and hosts Yemen.

India will try to improve its performance in this tournament from the last U18 FIBA Asia Championships which were held in Tehran (Iran) in 2008 – India only managed finish 13th in that competition.

This year, they will face a strong Japanese team in their very first game on September 22nd. India will play the hosts Yemen on September 23rd and Iraq on September 24th. The top three teams from each group will move on to the second round stage from September 25-29th, before the Quarter and Semi-Finals. The finals of the tournament will be held on Friday, October 1st.

Iran, the defending champions, once again come as strong favourites for this year's competition.

India showed a strong performance to qualify for this competition when the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying Round games were played in Bangalore from August 12-14th.They were led by great performances by players such as Arjun Singh, Dishant Shah, Shadab Khan, Amjyot Singh, and others as they went on to beat rivals Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by an average of 39 points in each game.

The completed 12-man roster set to represent India in the FIBA Asia U18 Championship in Yemen will be announced soon.

Here is the complete group breakdown:

Group A: Iran, Sri Lanka, Taipei, Malaysia

Group B: Kazakhstan, Lebanon, South Korea, Qatar

Group C: Syria, Philippines, China, Saudi Arabia

Group D: Japan, Iraq, India, Yemen

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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