Snehel Bendke: Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame

Among the first women to be a FIBA-certified referee from India, Snehel Bendke is now one of the greatest refs the nation has ever produced, whistling away all the way to the Olympics. For her efforts, the former player from Maharashtra has been inducted into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Hailing from Kohlapur in Maharashtra, Bendke was a rising player for her state, playing in nationals at the junior and senior levels. However, at the advice of a coach, she decided to follow the path of refereeing at the early age of 22. Bendke and fellow Hoopistani Hall of Famer Shiba Maggon soon became the first Indian woman to receive FIBA referee certification.

In the decade that has since passed as an international referee, Bendke has officiated matches in important events like the 2012 Olympic Games in London (the first and only Indian to do so), the first Indian woman to officiate in a Men's FIBA Asia Championship, the Women's World Basketball Championship, and numerous more FIBA Asia events in both the men and women's divisions.

She continues to be one of the most respected international basketball referees around the world.

Click here for more of the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Indian official Naresh Aneja nominated by FIBA for Rio Olympics Basketball Event

Despite our far-fetched dreams, India's basketball teams won't be playing in the Olympics anytime soon. But the good news is that there will certainly be a major Indian presence at basketball biggest international stage in Rio de Janeiro next month.

Naresh Aneja, one of the most respected basketball referees and commissioners in India and worldwide, has been nominated by FIBA (the world's governing body for basketball) to be one of eight jury members who will represent FIBA at the Rio Olympics 2016 in Brazil, announced the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). The duties of a jury member will be to supervise officials and to provide oversight to officiating and refereeing.

The composition of the jury pool is as follows: 2 from FIBA, 2 from Europe, 1 from Asia, 1 from Oceania, 1 from Africa and 1 from the Americas.

“This is a big honor for me,” said Aneja. “I hope I can meet the expectations that FIBA has for this event.”

This is the third prominent time that an Olympic basketball event will see Indian participation. The Indian men’s team had participated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and three decades later, Snehal Bendke was a woman’s referee at the 2012 London Olympics.

Aneja is a basketball veteran who played for Delhi for 14 years and was selected for the All-Star Junior Indian Team. He has been awarded 2 medals by the President of India: The President’s Medal for Meritorious Services and the prestigious President’s Medal for Distinguished Services.

His career in officiating began in 1978. He has refereed at 14 national finals. In 1998, he took the International FIBA Referee Test and then went on to be a referee at senior men’s, women’s, U-18 and U-16 men’s games. Due to a 50-year cap on the age of active refereeing by FIBA, he undertook the FIBA Commissioner Exam, and went on to provide his expertise at the Asian Games and the FIBA Asia Championships. He has played a role in 3 Asian Games, 3 World Junior Championships and various Asian Championships. Aneja has also been asked by FIBA Asia to conduct referee clinics at various countries and has also been nominated to be a referee supervisor in the FIBA Asia Men’s, Women’s and Junior Championships.

Indian refs also calling the shots at FIBA Asia Cup

India's national men's team are earning both wins and respect on the court at the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China, but they are not the only representatives from the nation making the 'tiranga' proud: India have also sent two of its most experienced referees - Snehal Bendkel and Ceciline Michael Vino - to call the shots on the court from a different angle. The tournament has added yet another feather in the cap for both these exceptional officials.

Bendke, born in the city of Kohlapur in Maharashtra, is truly one of our lesser-known national treasures. She has a ever-growing list of "firsts" next to her resume: she was among the first Indian women to become a FIBA referees, she was the first Indian woman to be nominated to officiate at the Olympics games, and she was among the two first women of any nationality to officiate at a Men's FIBA Asia Championship last year. She has refereed in the Women's World Championship and in Women's FIBA Asia tournaments for all age groups: U16, U18, and Seniors. And now, she is back to impose her ruling on the Asian Men's scene as one of the referees at the Men's FIBA Asia Cup.

"No, the men don't bully me!" she said, "But they're not afraid of me either, they know me now. In Manila - at the FIBA ABC last year - they were surprised to find a woman officiating them for the first time. They used to come and ask and make sure if I really was an official. Now, they're used to it!"

"The level of basketball so far at the Asia Cup has been really high," she said, "These are the top 10 teams in the tournament, and they are all playing at a high level."

After accomplishing nearly everything on a referees radar, Bendke still has a few more accomplishments to check off her list: "I want to referee in the World Championship for Men, and referee Finals for the World Championships!" she said.

The last time we checked in with Ceciline Michael Vino, he had just officiated the biggest game of his career, the Final of the Women's FIBA Asia Championship in 2011. The former All India University Championship player, bailing from Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, has only added to his growing list of referring accomplishments since. In total, he has officiated at two Men's FIBA Asia tournaments and three Women's tournaments in the past.

Being a FIBA referee doesn't only involve staying sharp on court; there is immense responsibility among all FIBA officials to study FIBA's rule changes and live up to the high expectations to keep evolving as the game itself evolves. But Vino said that, with the change in rules, practice makes perfect. "We practice a lot whenever the rules change," he said, "FIBA always announce such changes six months prior, so it's very easy for us to cope with them by the time they are implemented."

"My best experiences so far have really been at the Women's ABC Finals in Tokyo, and the semi-finals of the next tournament in the same category in Bangkok last year," he added.

Indian fans will truly be hoping that their team's Cinderella run continues and they can shock the continent by reaching the Finals in Wuhan. But if they fail on any step of the way, we will be rooting for one (or both?) of our refs to represent us in the biggest game of the tournament.

India's Snehal Bendke becomes one of two first women referees to officiate at Men's FIBA Asia Championship

Snehal Bendke has always been ahead of her contemporaries and ahead of her time. While most young basketball lovers focus on playing the sport in their early 20s, Bendke took a different angle and chose to focus on refereeing instead. She became one of India's first women referees to be qualified with a FIBA licence. She has officiated since officiated at women's basketball competition across the globe, including the FIBA World Championship and FIBA Asia Championship, just to name a few.

Now, she's set to make history again. Bendke and Chinese referee Ling Peng will become the first women to officiate games at the highest level of basketball competition for Men, as they have been called up amongst the list of 24 other referees at the 27th FIBA Asia Championship for Men in Manila next week.

“Well. This will be the first time that women referees will officiate in a FIBA Asia Championship." said FIBA Asia Secretary General Hagop Khajirian, "I call this the next step in the evolution of FIBA Asia technical officials. The term FIBA Referee is beyond gender. It does not different differentiate between male and female referees. If a referee is good enough to be called a FIBA Referee, then he or she is capable to officiate any game be it for men or women."

Congrats to Snehal: you can find out more about her through this excellent interview with Gopalakrishnan R. a few months ago on SportsKeeda.

United States win Women's World title

It has been a great summer for United States basketball, as the US Women’s team lifted the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women title after beating tournament hosts Czech Republic on Sunday, October 3 in Karlovy Vary. The Women’s squad successfully doubled up the country’s honours for this summer as the US Men’s team had earlier won the FIBA World Championship for Men gold medal in Turkey last month.

The Americans were led by Angel McCoughtry (18 points) and Diana Taurasi (16) in the Final as they beat Czech Republic 89-69. The US Women continued to exploit their size advantage and held a clear upper hand in rebounds against their rivals in the Final.

Hana Horakova, the Czechs’ best player, was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.

The tournament’s All-Star Five were:

Hana Horakova (Czech Republic)
Eva Viteckova (Czech Republic)
Diana Taurasi (USA)
Sancho Lyttle (Spain)
Yelena Leuchanka (Belarus)

Indian referee Snehal Bendke was present as one of the officials at this event.

FIBA World Championship for Women tips off in Czech Republic

Following the success of the FIBA World Championship for Men last month, attention turns to the Czech Republic, where the best women basketball players in the world have gathered for the FIBA World Championship for Women, set to be held from September 23 – October 3 in the cities of Karlovy Vary, Ostrava and Brno.

The tournament will feature current women’s World Champions Australia, Olympic basketball champions USA, and hosts Czech Republic. Other participating nations are: Senegal, Mali, China, Japan, Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Russia, Spain, Belarus, and Greece.

Indian referee Snehal Bendke has been nominated to participate as one of the officials at this event.