House of Hoops: How five sisters from Varanasi made Indian Basketball a family business

This feature was originally published for NBA.com/India in July, 2016.

Varanasi, many believe, is the oldest living city in the world, a civilization in perpetual existence for thousands of years. While the outside world was destroyed and rebuilt, Varanasi’s essence remained the same. Devotees begin their day early in the morning, at the crack of dawn, with blessings from the Ganga, moving on to yoga by the ghats, a cup of chai at the Chawk, visits to the Sankat Mochan and Vishwanath temples, Ganga Arti at Dashashwamedha Ghat in the evening, and a final ring of the bell to call it a very early night.

The city’s personality is a dual acceptance of discipline of ritual and a creative expression of one’s free-soul, what locals call being ‘mast’. And it is this balance that eventually produced the most unlikely by-product of this ancient city. Not its saris, its carpets, or paan. Not the ghats, lassis, or educational institutions. But a culture of basketball like no other.

Specifically, one particular house of hoops – the Singhs – an incredible family of five sisters who have made an indelible mark in contemporary Indian basketball. Varanasi’s Singh Sisters – Priyanka (36), Divya (33), Prashanti (30), Akanksha (27), and Pratima (26) – have made basketball a family business. Divya, Prashanti, Akanksha, and Pratima have all played for the Indian National team, and two of them have even been national captains. Priyanka played for the UP State team. And Divya, now, is blossoming into one of India’s finest young basketball coaches.

Prashanti, sister number three and a national team regular, credits the energy of her hometown to her family’s basketball success. “The vibration in Varanasi is very different,” she says. “You step into the city - people come from across the world and feel different there. There are cultural differences and difficulties everywhere, but there is a positive feeling here. It’s a simple place. People are sensitive and focused because there aren’t many distractions.”

“There is no night life, so we have early mornings! For Indian sportsperson, this is required: to be a morning person. Lifestyle of Varanasi both mast and disciplined. It's an amazing place, and in our case, it really helped.”

Unlike a lot of stories of Indian athletes, the Singh Sisters had no pedigree of sports in the previous generation. Their father is a Senior Branch Manager at Allahabad Bank in the Shivpur area of the city and the mother a former teacher turned housewife. The sisters, however, took advantage of the Udai Pratap (UP) College to hone their basketball skills, in a golden era for the city when one coach at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) center helped briefly make Varanasi into the basketball capital of the nation.

Prashanti also credits the intellectual culture in the city for making the sisters into cerebral as well as physical players. “This city,” Prashanti says. “It’s not fashionable, but it’s intellectual. People may look simple, but they are intelligent.”

“All of us [sisters] have a strong academic background because of our father, who attended IIT Kharagpur. We had no sports background, even though we had the physical ability, a natural built from our village ancestors. But basketball requires more than that; it’s not easy game. It’s a game that requires quick decision-making. Only physical ability doesn't help, this is a smart person's game. We always had focus on intelligence and academics, and that helped us a lot.”

Like the devotees by the ghats, the sisters followed their own ritual in the city. Basketball practice in the morning, school, and more basketball practice, repeated with absolute discipline to perfect their basketball skills. But basketball is more than a game of discipline; and it took a dash of local creativity – that mast personality – to turn these players into star athletes for India and at the international level.

Will the future generations in the city, and around the country, follow the Singhs’s examples? “People are definitely very interested in helping the sport in the city, but nothing is happening yet,” Prashanti says, “Despite this being the Prime Minister’s constituency, sports here is ignored. We have to improve infrastructure and we need a good indoor court in this city. Basketball is a global, A-grade sport. We deserve more.”

Indian Basketball's Singh Sisters honoured with Rani Lakshmi Bai Award in Lucknow

There are rarely any stories in sports more remarkable than that of the famous Singh Sisters of Varanasi. Four sisters - Divya, Prashanti, Akanksha, and Pratima - overcame great odds to all become important members of India's national basketball team and dominate the game at the domestic level. Through coaching and playing, the four sisters are still intimately involved with the growth of the game in India and continue to be some of the most popular figures in Indian basketball.

Now, the four sisters can add another feather to their well-stacked hats. On Monday, December 19, Divya (34), Prashanti (32), Akanksha (27), and Pratima (26) were all invited by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav to receive the prestigious Rani Lakshmi Bai Award, meant to signify bravery and outstanding achievement of women.

"This is good news for Varanasi as well as Indian basketball," said Prashanti Singh. "This award was only thing left for the Singh Sisters as we have already played so many big games together for India - CommonWealth Games, Asian Games, FIBA Asia Championship, National Championship, and more. Now being honoured with this award is a dream come true. This is historic for UP state and India, too."

The four sisters are part of an incredible basketball and sports extended family of India. Their eldest sister, Priyanka, also played at the state level. Their brother Vikrant Solanki is an U19 Delhi State footballer. Pratima Singh, the youngest of the sisters, got married earlier this year to Indian national cricketer Ishant Sharma.

Let Her Play

In light of recent men’s team success, India needs to beware not to let women’s basketball trail behind.

This article was first published in my column for Ekalavyas.com on October 11, 2016. Click here to read my original version.

Photo credit: Ekalavyas.com

In the course of one historic week, India’s Men’s basketball team defeated the Philippines, China, and Chinese Taipei at the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge, the first time that they upset three higher-ranked teams in the same tournament. For good measure, they added a victory over Kazakhstan, too, and when the dust settled, India had completed their finest international basketball performance in twenty-seven years with a seventh-place finish.

The squad received well-deserved adulation and praise back home, and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) decided the reward the team for its achievement with a Rs. 5 lakh bonus. The result was the latest bit of positive news from the Indian basketball circuit, a miracle achieved despite some of the backroom troubles that plagued the BFI’s executive committee last year.

In recent years, India’s Men’s teams have performed wonders, beating China at the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup, making it to the Quarter-Finals of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship for the first time in twelve years, seeing one star drafted into the NBA (Satnam Singh), another win a D-League contract (Palpreet Singh), and two more play professionally in Japan (Amrit Pal Singh and Amjyot Singh). Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Rikin Pethani took their pro talents to the Maldives, and back home, the UBA Basketball League provided opportunities to several athletes to play in short pro leagues.

Youth prospects are getting their chance to develop their game abroad, too, including Harshwardhan Tomar, who has signed a contract in Italy, and Prince Pal Singh, who got a scholarship to study and play in Ohio, USA. Last week, the NBA announced global academies to develop youth talent around the world, including in India. And of course, our national team returned with laurels and success from the FIBA Asia Challenge.

All of these achievements and interest towards Indians in basketball have been a positive consequence of improving grassroots development, coaching, and investment towards basketball in India. Alas, all of these achievements also only involve men.

While India’s Women may still rank much higher on the FIBA rankings (40) than the Men (53), the numbers don’t tell the full story. At the domestic level, India’s women have always lagged behind the men in terms of job placement opportunities at units around the country. Now, suffering from a lack of attention at the grassroots and fewer opportunities to play against top teams abroad, the international performances have suffered, too.

Back in 2013, the picture was much different, and women’s basketball proudly stood toe to toe with the men in India. India’s Women’s team had completed history, under the tutelage of Coach Francisco Garcia, who helped them finish at their best-ever 5th place finish at the FIBA Asia Championship in Bangkok and win their first-ever game in Level 1, against Kazakhstan. Around the same time, the duo of Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai had gotten an opportunity to play professionally in Thailand. At the international 3x3 stage, India’s women truly made their mark, winning gold medals at the Asian Beach Games, the 3x3 FIBA Asia Championship, and performing well in several other tournaments.

But a couple of years after the historic FIBA ABC in Thailand, Jose – an Indian basketball legend and Arjuna Award winner – stepped away from the game, leaving a huge void in the center position with no clear successor. Meanwhile, the BFI tensions led to the end of Garcia’s tenure in 2015, and even though he returned for one more FIBA ABC at the end of last year, the team had lost their positive momentum.

By the 2015 FIBA ABC, India had lost their magic touch. The squad went winless at the tournament in China and were relegated down to Level 2. The pain of defeat stung a little extra when Garcia left the team for good right after.

And ever since then, for over a year, India’s Senior Women’s team has not played in a single competitive match. Even in a year without the FIBA ABC, the Men’s squad still got a chance to play in the South Asia Qualifiers for the FIBA Asia Challenge, the William Jones Cup, and then the FIBA Asia Challenge itself. There was no equivalent tournament to the FIBA Asia Challenge for Women and, surprisingly, India didn’t send a Women’s team to Chinese Taipei for the Jones Cup.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment, however, were the South Asian Games in February this year. The event was organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) who have been in conflict with the current committee of the BFI. The IOA selected teams to represent India for the basketball tournament at the South Asian Games without the BFI’s approval; FIBA – the international basketball federation who have recognised this executive committee of the BFI – reacted by cancelling the basketball tournament at the Games altogether. The victims of all this drama were India’s international players. After spending time in camp in preparation for the Games and then flown to Guwahati to take part, India’s teams had to settle for friendly exhibition matches that weren’t officially recognised by FIBA.

While young male players from the country are starting to garner hype domestically and abroad, there has been little attention to develop individual women’s talent in the same way. During her career, Geethu Anna Jose got to play professionally in Australia, Thailand, and work out with three WNBA teams. But now, with the exception of High Schoolers Pallavi Sharma and Anmolpreet Kaur getting a run in Japan, there has been little other positive news for the top players getting a chance abroad.

For the NBA, it makes commercial sense to promote Satnam Singh, who became the first Indian to be drafted into the NBA, and Palpreet Singh, who won the (men’s only) ACG-NBA Jump programme and has signed on to a NBA D-League contract. But with lesser opportunity and financial backing, Indian women haven’t received the same attention.

Back home, the UBA League, which has completed its third season this year, is still only a men’s competition. Indian women have no other professional option and have to settle for the few jobs – like Railways – available in the basketball quota.

Pratima Singh, one of the star players for Delhi’s state team and the Indian national squad, rued the opportunities missed for India at the international level, including the most recent failed trip to Guwahati for the South Asian Games.

“Indian Women need more exposure to play basketball abroad, and more practice, to rise up to the level of our competitors,” Pratima said, “A great example is Geethu, who became even better when she returned from her pro stint in Australia, her game and fitness improved considerably. We have seen the same improvement in male players like Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh who have played in Japan. More players need this experience. It is not an impossible task, and with some initiative, we can get there.”

Where the women have a potential advantage over the men is in the relative parity of competition. For years, India’s women’s team has ranked higher in the continent, particularly because of the lack of competition from Middle Eastern teams that India’s men face in Asian tournaments. Furthermore, in larger, global 3x3 meets, India’s women have shown that they can compete with and upset some of the top teams in the world.

Pratima’s older sister Prashanti Singh, a former captain of the national team and one of the most decorated athletes in the country, believes that domestic growth will eventually positively influence international results.

“If the same effort is put in the Women’s game in India as the men, there will be much more success for us, because the competition is lesser worldwide,” said Prashanti, “In India, there are about twenty employers for men’s basketball and just two for women. If we add more domestic teams, we can definitely get a podium finish at FIBA ABCs. If there is a domestic league and more tournaments for women, then there will be more participation, and more quality will come forth.”

In 2017, India’s Women will finally get a chance for competitive action again, most notably in the FIBA Asia Championship. The team needs to prepare in advance for this upcoming challenge to ensure that they overturn the disappointments improve on their rankings again.

In the past, the BFI has always maintained the importance of gender neutrality in basketball, providing the same level of foreign coaching, infrastructural access, and competitive experience to both men and women. India’s rise in the men’s version of the game has been a pleasant surprise. But in the light of their recent success, India needs to beware not to tell women’s basketball trail behind.

Akanksha Singh: Small Wonder

11 years ago, the Varanasi District girls basketball team that was headed for the Under-17 School Nationals in Gorakhpur had a little problem. They only had 11 players on the squad, and needed a 12th from somewhere to complete the roster. They placed their faith on an unproven, small wonder, an 11-year-old who made enough of an impression to bolster her hoops career forever.

‘Bacchi’, the nickname-given to 22-year-old Indian national point guard Akanksha Singh, literally means ‘young girl’. With exceptional performances in over the past year for state, club, or country, Akanksha may have grown into a burgeoning young superstar, but she was only a actually just a little ‘bacchi’ when her life changed.

See, Akanksha comes from a heralded family of Women basketball stars from Varanasi , the ‘Singh Sisters’ – her three older sisters, Priyanka, Divya, and Prashanti had already made a name for themselves on the court. Divya and Prashanti, in particular, had scaled great heights – both had been stars of the Indian Sr. National Women’s team, and both of them had captained the National side at different points.

Growing up in a family of basketball achievers, Akanksha didn’t really have any other choice except to follow their path on to the famed UP College Basketball Court in Varanasi. “Before I started playing, I used to just go bicycling to the court and saw my older sisters playing,” said Akanksha, “The competition and the close games used to excite me a lot. When the next batch of sub-juniors began to play, I joined them, and that’s how I was first introduced to the game.”

But her big break came at the most unexpected of times: Sitting in her Grade VI classroom, the 11-year-old was called out of her class and told that the U17 Varanasi Girl’s team needs a 12th player. Since her older sister Prashanti was in the team, the little Akanksha – at 11, by far the youngest in the team – was taken along.

“That tournament changed my life,” she remembers, “I didn’t get to play too much really, but in a game against Lucknow, the coach surprised me by sending me on the court.”

The tiniest girl on the floor then proceeded to hit a couple of big shots, surprising herself. “I scored just five points,” she said, “But because I was so small everyone loved me for it, and I got excited too! That moment made me really confident that basketball was going to be my game.”

And then the ball got rolling faster: Akanksha practiced harder, and in the next few years, she moved up from Sub-Junior level to Youth level, until she received the next surprise, when she was taken with her older sisters Divya and Prashanti to the Junior (U18) team. Once again, she was an afterthought initially – small in age, experience, and size – but it didn’t stop her from getting her few moments of shine.

She quickly moved up the ranks, surprising herself with her own improvement and growing confident on court. And then the moment arrived that Akanksha remembers as one of the highlights of her young life. “I still remember the first time I was picked to play for India – it was the Indian U18 side,” said Akanksha, “It was the U18 Asian Basketball Championship (ABC) for Women in China. The first time I held my India jersey made me very sentimental!”

That wasn’t the only time that Akanksha felt her emotions nearly getting the best of her. Because guess what? Being in a family full of basketball stars isn’t always peaches and cream. Expectations for success are high, and patience for failure is far too low. With Divya and Prashanti making a name for themselves in the National and International circuit, there was a lot of pressure on Akanksha to follow in their footsteps, prove to the world that she can be in the same class that we have come to expect from the ‘Singh Sisters’. At 5 foot 6, she is also shorter than her older sisters, and like every shorter basketball player, she had to always go a step extra to prove that she belonged. Akanksha admits that, at first, it was a little too much to take. Luckily for her, she transformed that pressure into motivation, practicing further to live up to the billing.

“After my first Junior Nationals, I began to feel the pressure,” she says. “Divya and Prashanti had begun to make a name for themselves. I used to work extra hard because I felt that if I make any mistakes, it would hamper my chances of making the India team.”

But it was the older sisters who came to the aid of Akanksha, helping her regain her confidence. “They had a lot of encouraging things to say to me as I developed,” Akanksha remembers.

Another thing that helped her confidence was her fast-developing skill with the basketball. A common sight during basketball games is the bored look on the faces of some of the bench players, those who have little influence on the outcome of the game. But Akanksha made the most of her time as benchwarmer waiting for her number to be called.

“I used to just sit or stand around the bench while the game was going on with a basketball, and I never stopped dribbling,” she said, “I kept dribbling and dribbling until my handle became a lot better. The coaches used to notice this and then, they began to use me in the end of games, when the opposition played full-court defense on us. I was a good ball-handler in the pressure situations – and that’s how, although my older sisters played the forward positions, I became a point guard.”

The lesson here: even bench-warming can be a learning process!

In 2003, Akanksha Singh made her debut in the Senior Nationals and played for the Uttar Pradesh team when she was just an 11th Grader. “Many of the older girls didn’t take my seriously because I was small, but I always found a way to surprise them!”

In 2004, Akanksha followed her sister’s footsteps into the Delhi team. She had been playing with them a lot as a youngster, and this gave her another chance to play with them and develop a better understanding. As anyone who has ever played regular basketball with a sibling knows, there is a unique experience of understanding and expectations between the two: Siblings tend to understand each other’s movements mentally when the others on court may be a step or two behind, but siblings also judge each other’s mistakes harsher than everyone else on the team.

Akanksha’s experience of playing with her sisters has been no different – whether it has been in pick-up games in Varanasi, National tournament games for Delhi, or international games for India. “I can understand them better, I know their expressions, and get them the ball. I know exactly what they’re going to do.”

And just like her older sister’s mentored her, Akanksha took on the mentor’s role for the youngest, fifth Singh sister, Pratima. “The two of us love to play together,” she said of the 21-year-old, who is now also in the Delhi side, “But I like her to practice playing opposite me so she can get better!”

Suddenly, 2010 became the breakout year for Akanksha Singh, the ‘Small Wonder’. During the month of May, which is considered to be the off-season in Indian basketball, the Mastan League, a first ever professional-style club competition, was organised in Mumbai. “I wanted to play well so people know my name,” Akanksha said, “Even though it was the off-season I didn’t stop practicing. Once the tournament began, the game started to come very easily for me.”

Easy enough that Akanksha walked away with the award for the tournament’s MVP. But she wasn’t done announcing her coming-out party to the Indian basketball world. When India took part in the Asian Games basketball tournament in Guangzhou (China), Akanksha was just one of the smaller stars in the 12-women roster. It was American coach Tamika Raymond, brought to lead India into this competition, who injected another boost of confidence into the youngster, giving her the starting point guard role for the team.

“I wasn’t expecting to start, but Coach Raymond made me work hard to earn it. She began to play me a lot more during the practice sessions – every time there were mistakes with the offense, I was substituted in. I quickly learned that I was being sent in to fix those mistakes, and so I went ahead and did it.”

And suddenly, there was no doubt of her sublime ball-handling and scoring skills anymore – Akanksha responded well and saw her own game elevate to the highest level. She has been on a tear ever since her return from China, becoming a formidable force for Delhi and running the offense like a perfect point guard is supposed to.

And now, for the first time perhaps, Akanksha Singh may be finally established. She is small, but her skills surprise no one anymore. She is one of the 24-women heading for the Indian All Star game in Mumbai in a couple of weeks, and opponents can no longer afford to overlook her talents.

But the youngster is far from done climbing the ladder. She has bigger dreams, for herself and for her country. “I want to be part of a team that finally wins a medal for India. We may not look formidable right now but I don’t think such a feat is impossible. With the right kind of coaching, I think we can reach that summit.”

Coming from someone who has looked up at every summit and then confidently mastered it, experience has now taught us to know better than doubt the ‘Bacchi’s’ ambitions.

From the WNBA to India - Tamika Raymond takes on a brand new challenge

Soon after it was announced that the Indian Sr. Men's team will be led by American coach Bill Harris, formerly of Wheaton college, there was a collective flurry of celebration over the basketball networks around the country. "Yes... FINALLY... gud going... All the best Mr. Harris..." Facebook pages announced the news deliriously with ALL CAPS and Twitter updates were retweeted with glorious abandon. No, Harris wasn't the saviour for Indian basketball, but he was definitely an important foundation as the team built itself towards respectability before the 2010 Asian Games.

There was just one niggling problem.

Pratima Singh, India's Women's National player, shared her grievances first: "why not for the girls team.... this is not good...," which she later followed on by "humare baare main bhi to soche koi (someone think about us, too)!"

The rest of the girls watched jealously for a few days, as Harris landed in Chennai and started his era with the Senior Men. Indian players, particularly the women, are known for their hunger to keep learning, keep exploring, keep improving... Just like the men, they wanted their leader, too.

And it didn't take long before their wish was granted. After a thorough search for coaching talent in the USA, the NBA found recommended a former WNBA player and NCAA D1 assistant coach the BFI. BFI's Secretary-General Harish Sharma presented Tamika Raymond to the Women's squad.

Raymond brings with herself the perfect balance of experience and approachability. She is still young, only two years retired from her career as a professional basketball player in the WNBA, which is the most competitive women's basketball league in the world. After being drafted sixth overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2002 WNBA draft, Raymond played for the Lynx for six years, before taking her talents to Connecticut to play for the Sun for a year in 2008.

But being a professional player wasn't enough: Raymond also began to work as assistant coach at Ohio State University in the off-season, juggling both careers of a player and a coach with ease for several years. After five years at Ohio State, she took up the assistant coaching job at the University of Kansas. Both these institutions have great basketball programmes and play at the highest level of college basketball in the US – NCAA Division I.

But this is her first gig as head coach – and with a wonderful twist of fate, she finds herself in South India. "I was doing some work with the NBA internationally, and I heard that they wanted my name in the pool of people being considered for the India job," Raymond said, "I thought it was a great situation and so I agreed."

"My past experience is surely to help me with this new responsibility," she added, "At Ohio State, I worked with an older coach who stressed on the fundamentals of perfecting the women's basketball by breaking down and studying every bit of information about the game. At Kansas, I worked under a younger coach who believed in exploring new concepts and disciplines of training student athletes."

"Being young and a former pro-athlete myself, I feel I will be able to relate very well with the girls here. I hope I will be able to understand their issues better and we can all work together."

Raymond has been in India for less than two weeks, but she has already organised the team into following a strict, regimented training schedule. Time is scarce – the Asian Games tip off in a month, and India will have to be prepared to face the likes of China, Korea, and Thailand in their group.

But no matter how good a coach, it is the players who inevitably decide on the success of a squad. So far, Raymond seems to be happy with the group she has been given to work with. "The girls have responded well to the practices we have had so far," she said, "They're very talented, proud, and respectful, but the best thing is that they are like sponges: they want to keep learning, they want to keep working in the gym, and want to care for the game of basketball. All this combines to show for the great energy that they have in practice."

Raymond also commented that the Indian Women were strong in their basketball fundamentals, and seemed to have high basketball IQ and retention.

As the team shapes up, Raymond envisions a squad that is strong defensively but also is efficient with its offensive execution. "I want us to be a smart team in our tactical approach and I want us to play hard," she said, "I think if we do that, we can perform pretty well at the Asian Games. I have seen the statistics from the previous games that these girls have played and I think we can improve on them."

Raymond noted that there are various ways in which the team can be improved, and they can do it by following certain aspects of the US model. "In the US, there are certain extra things that the players do which takes them to the top," said Raymond, "There is more stress on weight training, on a strenuous conditioning regiment, and tactical breakdown of offensive and defensive fundamentals."

"We have a lot of talent there, so there is no reason why India can't achieve its potential in basketball. Yes, we have a long way to go, but we're all working together to improve the game here: I really admire the work the BFI has been doing in India."

That race towards improvement is in full swing. Basketball in India was getting all the right kind of support from IMG-Reliance and the NBA – and now, with the hiring of the two American coaches for our senior teams, the players feel confident to start learning. Start delivering.

The girls didn't have to wait too long or complain too much. They have their coach, now, and they have a mission. There was no reason to be jealous of the boys anymore. Facebook statues rejoiced and the ‘Like' thumbs went up as the news of Raymond taking charge of the Sr. Women's team spread. Even Pratima Singh was satisfied.

"THANK U...:)," she commented, "WE R HAPPY..."

If Raymond's team continues to play hard, the rest of us will be very happy, too.