India announce squad for next window of FIBA World Cup qualifiers against Jordan and Lebanon in Bengaluru

India began the campaign for the 2019 FIBA World Cup with disappointments in the first window of their First Round games. In two games in November, India played uninspiring basketball, losing to Lebanon on the road, and then to Syria back home. The losses have put the team at the bottom of Group C and complicating any chances for India to qualify for the next stage.

If that course has to be corrected, however, the hard work has to start now. FIBA Asia's second window of 2019 World Cup qualifiers will begin next week. India will play two home games - against Jordan and Lebanon - at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium in Bengaluru. India will face Jordan on Friday, February 23rd, and Lebanon on Monday, February 26th.

This is the first time that FIBA - the international basketball federation - is holding their new qualifying format for the World Cup. India was drawn in Group C for the First Round of the 2019 World Cup’s Asian Qualifiers, along with Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. To qualify for the Second Round, India have to finish within the top three of their group.

A short-handed Indian squad lost to Lebanon 107-22 in Zouk Mikael in November, and came home for a more disappointing loss against a weaker Syrian team, 74-57. Jordan has won both while Lebanon and Syria have lost one and won one match each.

To prepare for the upcoming important games, India played in the 2018 Asian Games Test Event's basketball tournament in Indonesia last week, finishing with a silver medal.

The good news for India going ahead for the next two home games is that two of the country's top players - Amjyot Singh and Amritpal Singh - will return from professional obligations for the Oklahoma City Blue (NBA G-League) and Sydney Kings (NBL Australia) respectively to rejoin Team India next week. Also playing for the team will be Aravind Annadurai, star for India at the Asian Games Test Event in Indonesia, and Satnam Singh, the first Indian to be drafted to the NBA. Rajinder Singh will serve as India's coach for these match-ups. The Basketball Federation of India's (BFI) President K. Govindraj and Secretary-General Chander Mukhi Sharma announced India's roster in Bengaluru on Saturday,

Team India

• Ravi Bhardwaj
• Arvind Arumugam
• Satnam Singh
• Arshpreet Singh Bhullar
• Aravind Annadurai
• Akilan Pari
• Justin Gnanaraj
• Jeevanantham Pandi
• Yadwinder Singh
• Joginder Singh
• Amritpal Singh
• Amjyot Singh
• Loveneet Singh Atwal *injury replacement
• Head Coach: Rajinder Singh
• Assistant Coach: GRL Prasad
• Assistant Coach: RH Lalding Sanga

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has announced free entry to all fans hoping to attend the games in Bengaluru. The city hosted three major FIBA events last year: the 2017 FIBA Asia Championship for Women, the 2017 FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women, and India's FIBA World Cup Qualifier against Syria.

"After looking at the enthusiasm of the fans in the previous events we have decided to open up the gates for all the basketball fans," said Govindraj. "Providing free entry will be a great opportunity for all the school children in Bangalore to witness basketball played on the highest level."

Chennai's Indian Overseas Bank win 4th Mulki Ram Sunder Ram Shetty basketball tournament in Bengaluru

Continuing the recent purple patch of performances for Tamil Nadu basketball after the state's victory at last month's Senior Nationals, the Indian Overseas Bank squad from Chennai won gold at India's first major club competition of 2018, the 4th Mulki Ram Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament. IOB won the tournament's finale at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, February 4, with an impressive victory over another Chennai squad, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF).

The Mulki Ram tournament was organised by Vijaya Bank in Bengaluru from January 31 to February 4, featuring several of India's top men's club squads, featuring the hosts Vijaya Bank themselves (Bengaluru), IOB, ICF, Income Tax, Customs (all from Chennai), Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala, Punjab), and the Karnataka State Team. Vijaya Bank defeated IOB to win the tournament last year.

In this year's final, IOB proved to be too big and too fast for ICF, and were led by Indian international Aravind Annadurai (23) en route to a comfortable 77-50 victory.

Vijaya Bank won the third-place playoff against Customs in a close contest, 81-76. S. Karthickeyan scored 21 to lead the hosts, while Chennai were led by Justin (27) and Hari Ram (23) in a losing effort.

IOB received ₹1,00,000, while ICF took home ₹50,000. RA Sankara Narayanan, Vijaya Bank CEO and Managing Director, gave away the prizes.

A number of individual awards were also given at the end of the tournament, including:

• Player of the tournament: GA Anto Bethle (ICF)
• Most popular player: Justin (Customs)
• Most promising player: Navin Raj (Vijaya bank)
• Best defender: Aravind Annadurai (IOB)

FIBA World Cup 2019 Qualifiers: India begin Group C with two uninspiring losses to Lebanon and Syria

The first-ever window of FIBA's new World Cup qualifying process began around the world this week. These qualifiers were an incredible opportunity to widen the road to the 2018 Basketball World Cup and allow each team in the preliminary stage to play in home-and-away games in the lead-up to the main event for the next few years. India, who have been placed in Group C of the First Round of Asian Qualifiers, began their long journey to the World Cup in opening clashes against Lebanon and Syria this past week.

Unfortunately, a short-handed Indian team failed to deliver, playing uninspiring basketball to lose both their qualifying games. They already have a grueling path ahead of them with four more group stage games left over the next eight months.

India were coached by the Serbian Zoran Visic for the first qualifying games and featured a 12-man roster that included former NBA G-Leaguer Satnam Singh Bhamara, NBL player Amritpal Singh, former G-League draftee Palpreet Singh Brar, and point guard Akilan Pari. The team was without the services of star players Amjyot Singh (playing in the NBA G-League) and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (recovering from injury). India were coming off a disappointing outing at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon and desperately needed to make amends. The away game to Lebanon was always going to be a challenge, but India were expected to perform well in their home contest against Syria.

Lebanon took charge early in the first game in the city of Zouk Mikael on Thursday, November 23rd. By halftime, with the score at 55-27 in Lebanon's favour, the game already seemed out of India's reach. Led by 22 points and 10 rebounds by Ahmed Ibrahim, Lebanon cruised to a 107-72 victory. Lacking top backcourt players, Visic was forced to play a big, but slow lineup of for India, which made the team struggle to set up plays on offense and lag behind Lebanon's athleticism.

India returned home for Game 2 against the team which would be their weakest opponent in the group, Syria, on Sunday, November 26th. The game was held at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium in Bengaluru and was India's first-ever home FIBA qualifier. Family obligations ruled out star player Amritpal Singh, and the team had to contend without any members of their "Big Three". After a competitive first quarter, Syria took complete control of the game and opened up a double digit lead by the third period. Despite a few bright flashes by Satnam Singh, all of India's comeback attempts were futile. The team continued it's offensive struggles and turned the ball over 23 times. Syria, led by Michael Madanly's 21 points, won the game 74-57.

India are now down 0-2 and the road will only get tougher for here. The Syria game was the easiest opportunity for a group stage victory. Their only bright spark has been Satnam Singh - averaging 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game - but even he was expected to be much more dominant with the opportunity to start for the national team.

Over the next two international qualifying windows in February and July, India will face the same two teams plus Jordan twice. Jordan is currently on top of Group C with wins over Syria and Lebanon so far. To qualify for the Second Round, India have to finish among the top three of their group. The Second Round will be held between September 2018 to February 2019. Recovering from this early hole will be a challenge, but hopefully India can have more of their star players available for the next window and pick up a surprise victory or two.

The 2019 FIBA World Cup will be held in China in August/September 2019.

India's Men's basketball roster announced for FIBA World Cup qualifying games next week

After a month in training camp in Bengaluru, India has sharpened up its full list of probables to announce the 12-man roster for the FIBA World Cup qualifying games against Lebanon and Syria in the coming week. In FIBA's new competition system, this will be the first time that India will play in these home-and-away group qualifiers for the World Cup. Last week, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) announced that Serbian coach Zoran Visic will be leading the team for the away game against Lebanon on Thursday and a clash against Syria at home on Sunday next week.

Team India will be captained by veteran point guard Akilan Pari and will feature one of the country's top players Amritpal Singh, who is on international break from his professional club in Australia's NBL, the Sydney Kings. Amritpal is sure to be the team's centerpiece in the next two games. India is loaded with talented bigs, including the country's first-ever NBA draft pick and former NBA G-League player Satnam Singh, former G-League draft pick Palpreet Singh Brar, Rikin Pethani, Jagdeep Singh Bains, Aravind Annadurai, and more.

Visic, who has coached India's Senior and U16 Women's squads in FIBA Asia tournaments earlier this year, has been appointed the men's team head coach, succeeding Phil Weber of the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans. He will be assisted by former India international Sambhaji Kadam.

India will be without the services of two of their top three players: Amjyot Singh, who is playing for the OKC Blue of the NBA G-League; and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, who is recovering from a right knee injury.

Team India Roster

• Amritpal Singh
• Aravind Annadurai
• Satnam Singh
• Arshpreet Singh Bhullar
• Akilan Pari - captain
• Prasanna Venkatesh
• Rikin Pethani
• Prudhvi Reddy
• Palpreet Singh Brar
• Jagdeep Singh Bains
• Arvind Arumugam
• Gurvinder Singh Gill
• Head Coach: Zoran Visic
• Assistant Coach: Sambhaji Kadam

In the first round of the qualifiers, India has been grouped with Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Teams in each group will play each other home and away between November 2017 to July 2018 in the First Round. Listed below is India's schedule - the home team in each case is mentioned first:

• November 23, 2017: Lebanon vs. India.
• November 26, 2017: India vs. Syria

India's historic first home qualifier game against Syria will be held at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium on Sunday, November 26, starting from 7 PM. India will play the next rounds of games in late February and in June/July 2018.

At the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon in August, India lost in the group stage to Jordan, and more surprisingly, to Syria. India were dissappointing after high expectations and were ousted in the first round.

The qualifiers will give India a chance for some redemption, beginning with the first two games later this month. Unfortunately, India will once again relying too much on the performance of their post players. Amritpal, Satnam, Palpreet, and co. can all be wonderfully dominant under the basket, but India is weak in terms of ball-handlers and creative wing players. There will be a lot of pressure for Pari to outplay opposing point guards, and the qualifiers will also be a good litmus test for his young back, Prudhvi Reddy. Without Bhriguvanshi, however, India will again struggle for consistency in setting up their offense as they did when he was hurt at the FIBA Asia Cup. Without Amjyot, they will also need more offense from sharp-shooter Prasanna Venkatesh from the wing.

India will find it difficult to get the win against Lebanon away from home, but back in Bengaluru against Syria is perhaps their best opportunity for a group stage victory. Let the qualifiers commence!

Zoran Visic assigned as Coach of India's Men's basketball team for FIBA World Cup Qualifiers - Probables and Schedule

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) announced on Thursday that Zoran Visic - the experienced Serbian basketball coach who has been at the helm of India's Women's basketball teams this year - will now be appointed to a new challenge. Visic has now been assigned Head Coach of India's Men's basketball team for the upcoming round of 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. The BFI has also released a list of 19 probables for Team India for the qualifying games against Lebanon and Syria later this month.

Visic's open attitude to new challenges have helped him become a surprisingly ubiquitous presence in Indian basketball over the course of the past few months. He was originally hired to be the head coach of India’s women’s senior national team in June. In July's FIBA Asia Cup in Bengaluru, he helped India win the (secondary) Division B of the competition. To maintain continuity, the BFI appointed him Head Coach of India's U16 Women's squad, too, and he repeated his feat, helping the team secure the same success (Division B win) in the same city (Bengaluru) at the FIBA Asia U16 Women's Cup last month.

Visic's counterpart for India's Senior Men's team - at the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon earlier this year - was experienced NBA coach Phil Weber. But Weber's appointment only lasted a few months in preparation and until the end of the Men's Asia Cup - there had been a void at the helm of the Men's team. With Visic available, the BFI turned inwards to find someone who had gained some understanding of the Indian system to lead the Men's squad forward for the next few games.

Visic is a FIBA World Instructor and has over 34 years of professional basketball coaching experience across Serbia, Romania, Russia, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, and Singapore. He was appointed coach of the Men's team earlier this month at the beginning of the Senior National Men's Coaching Camp for the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers that is currently going on in Bengaluru at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Visic's assistant coaches for the national team are Paramdeep Singh, Shambhaji Kadam and Laldingsanga Hangsing.

The camp, which started on November 1, will be held until November 20, before India fly to Lebanon for their first qualifying game on the 23rd, and then return home for the second qualifier against Syria on November 26.

The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup is scheduled to be held in China from August 31 - September 15, 2019. In the run-up to this biggest-ever event, FIBA is holding home-and-away style qualifiers over a space of 12-18 months to decide the tournament's final 32 qualifiers.

In the first round of the qualifiers, India has been grouped with Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Teams in each group will play each other home and away between November 2017 to July 2018 in the First Round. Listed below is India's schedule - the home team in each case is mentioned first:

• November 23, 2017: Lebanon vs. India.
• November 26, 2017: India vs. Syria
• February 23, 2018: India vs. Jordan
• February 26, 2018: India vs. Lebanon
• June 28, 2018: Syria vs. India
• July 1, 2018: Jordan vs. India

To qualify for the Second Round, India have to finish within the top three of their group. As they currently stand in the FIBA rankings, India are the third-best team in Group C, behind Jordan and Lebanon. At the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon in August, India lost in the group stage to Jordan, and more surprisingly, to Syria, The qualifiers will give India a chance for some redemption, beginning with the first two games later this month.

With the exception of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, India's lead guard who has been struggling with injuries all year, the BFI has named a strongest-possible list of 19 probables for Team India at the qualifiers. This list includes Indian stars Amjyot Singh and Amritpal Singh who are currently in the NBA G-League and the NBL in Australia respectively.

Full List of India's probables

• Amjyot Singh
• Amritpal Singh
• Aravind Annadurai
• Yadwinder Singh
• Satnam Singh Bhamara
• Arshpreet Singh Bhullar
• Arvind Kumar BK
• Arvind Arumugam
• Gurvinder Singh Gill
• Muin Bek Hafeez
• Akilan Pari
• Prasanna Ventakesh
• Rikin Pethani
• Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi
• Prudhvi Reddy
• Palpreet Singh Brar
• Vishal Kumar Gupta
• Jagdeep Singh Bains
• Arjun Singh

It is unlikely that Amjyot and Amritpal will return to the national team from their professional obligations to take part in the first round of these qualifiers. But the team does feature a number of other exciting players to keep an eye on. On top of the list is of course Satnam Singh, India's first NBA draft pick, who left his NBA G-League team a few months ago to focus on developing his game back home. Satnam got limited opportunities behind Amjyot and Amritpal in the FIBA Asia Cup, and these qualifiers could be his chance to prove that he could be a star for the national team. Palpreet Singh Brar, India's first NBA G-League draft pick, is among the probables, too. Experienced Punjabi bigs Yadwinder Singh and Jagdeep Singh Bains will be there to provide veteran leadership. India's issue, as before, will continue to be the imbalance between frontcourt and backcourt, as there is a shortage of star guards in Vishesh Bhriguvanshi's absence. A lot will depend on the development of rising young star Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi.

India will struggle without the Big Three of Bhriguvanshi, Amjyot, and Amritpal, but Visic has always focused on team success before highlighting individuals, and hopefully, he can help a new round of players carry the team forward.

Australia win gold at 2017 FIBA U16 Asia Championship for Women in Bengaluru; Team India celebrate Division B victory!

For the second time this year, India played host to one of FIBA Asia's marquee basketball events in the region, with the top youth women from over a dozen Asian nations descending into Bengaluru's Sri Kantaveera Stadium for the 2017 FIBA U16 Asia Championship For Women. As the week-long tournament concluded on Saturday, October 28th, newcomers Australia - playing under the Asian banner for the first time - took the gold medal with a thrilling win over Japan in the final.

India, meanwhile, began the tournament in the lower Division B. With many encouraging performances, India dominated the second-tier of the competition, winning all of their games in comfortable fashion and securing a qualification to Division A in front of their home fans.

The Division A final pitted the two strongest teams of this year's competition - Australia and Japan - against each other. Japan have been to every final of this tournament (five consecutive times), but only won once, back in 2011. Leading 41-32 at halftime on Saturday, it seemed that they would finally add another gold to their tally. But Australia amped up their defense after halftime were able to edge Japan to secure a nail-biting 61-60 win. This was the first time that teams from Oceania (Australia, New Zealand) were playing in this tournament, and Australia celebrated their entry with a debut gold.

Also on Saturday, 2015 champions China defeated New Zealand led by Ming Zheng (20) and Yutong Liu (17) to secure third place.

The top four teams from Division A - Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand - qualified for the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup.

Two years ago, India had a forgettable experience at the FIBA U16 Asia Women in Medan (Indonesia), losing all of their higher division games and getting relegated to Division B. This had been a similar situation with India's senior women's team for this year's FIBA Asia Women's Cup in Bengaluru earlier this year. India's coach - the Serbian Zoran Visic - helped the senior team finish that previous tournament in perfect fashion and regain Division A status. Visic was named head coach of the U16 team by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to help repeat his achievement for the younger girls.

India started the 2017 U16 championship in Division B's Group A, alongside Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the last-minute addition, Iran. India opened the tournament in dominant fashion with their best offensive performance: led by a dominant all-round performance by Vaishnavi Yadav (23 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 8 steals), India blew past Nepal to a 106-37 win. Captain Pushpa Senthil Kumar added 18 points and 11 rebounds to India's winning effort.

Game 2 against another South Asian competitor Sri Lanka proved to be more of the same. India started the first quarter in style, getting a 30-7 lead, and cruised to a 86-58 victory. Monica Jayakumar had her breakout moment with 19 points and 8 rebounds, while Kumar was unstoppable in the post again (18 points, 19 rebounds).

India's most interesting group opponent was set to be Iran, a late entrant to the women's basketball stage in the continent. After a hesitant start, India took complete charge in the second quarter and dominated on both ends of the floor after halftime for a convincing 97-53 win. Vaishnavi Yadav (29 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) was at the top of her game, leading five Indians in double figure scoring.

India had now earned a qualification straight for the semi-final, where they played a much taller Kazakhstan side. But the height disadvantage didn't stop India, and instead, spurred to the team to a strong defensive effort. Led again by Yadav (21 points, 15 rebounds), India shut down the Kazakhs to win 77-40.

In the senior women's final against Kazakhstan, India had needed a dramatic game-winning shot by Shireen Limaye to secure their Division B victory. In the U16 final against Malaysia, however, no such heroics were necessary. Like they had been all tournament, India were dominant from the star, holding Malaysia to just three points in the first quarter and holding a 32-24 halftime lead. Another spurt in the third and some tenacious defensive work helped India close the game out with a 64-48 win.

India ended the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record, won Division B, and secured their promotion to Division A for the next iteration of this tournament.

The biggest star to emerge for India from this championship was Uttar Pradesh girl Vaishnavi Yadav. After making a name for herself at the Youth Nationals for UP earlier this year, Yadav enjoyed her major international breakthrough in front of an eager home crowd. She finished the tournament as Division B's leader in points (20.4 ppg) and joint leader, with another Indian Neha Karwa, in assists (6.2). Yadav was also India's second-best player on the boards, grabbing 8.8 rebounds per contest. The team's captain Pushpa Senthil Kumar was also a major force in the post, finishing as the division's second-best rebounder (13.2 rpg). Karwa was a steady presence for India all tournament, too, and could be a guard to watch for the future.

Final Standings

• 1. Australia
• 2. Japan
• 3. China
• 4. New Zealand
• 5. Korea

India U16 Women's team ready to host FIBA U16 Women's Asia Championship in Bengaluru - Roster, Schedule, and Preview

Three months ago, Bengaluru proved its place as a worthy basketball host city, as the city's iconic Sri Kantaveera Stadium hosted the FIBA Asia Women's Cup. This was the first major FIBA basketball event to be held in India in eight years, and in front of the home fans, Team India finished the tournament in style by winning promotion to Division A.

Now, India's youth squad will be hoping that the same arena, in the same city, can provide them the boost that the country's leading ladies received, too. From October 22-28, India will host the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Championship in Bengaluru, featuring the top youth teams from around Asia and Oceania in the youngest FIBA international tournament. India's U16 team, which fell to Division B at the previous iteration of this tournament, will hope to return to the higher stage by the end of next week.

Fifteen teams, divided into two levels of two groups each, will take part in this tournament. In 2015 in Medan (Indonesia), China completed a three-peat at this championship with a win over Japan in the final. India finished the group stage losing all five preliminary round games, and then losing their playoff match against Hong Kong to fall to Division B.

Participating Teams

• Division A - Group A: Australia, Korea, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand.
• Division A - Group B: China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong.
• Division B - Group A: India, Sri Lanka, Iran Nepal.
• Division B - Group B: Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Maldives.

Team India will be led by Zoran Visic, the experienced basketball coach from Serbia who also led India's Senior Women's team at the FIBA Asia Women's Cup earlier this year. Visic's assistant coach will be his captain from the senior team - the basketball star Anitha Paul Durai - for whom this will be the first foray into international coaching. The squad is completely changed from the one that played in Medan two years ago. Some of the top players that made a mark in recent Youth and Sub Junior nationals will be featured in this roster, including Vaishnavi Yadav, Ann Mary Zacharaiah, and Elijabet Ekka.

Team India Roster

• Vaishnavi Yadav
• Riya Baliyan
• Ann Mary Zachariah
• Neha Karwa
• Khushi Sanjay Dongre
• Elijabet Ekka
• Monica Jayakumar
• Pushpa Senthil Kumar
• Grishma Niranjan
• Sreekala Rani
• Asmat Taunque
• Sanjana Ramesh
• Head Coach: Zoran Visic
• Assistant Coach: Anitha Paul Durai

India will top to top their group in the preliminary round, and then defeat the top squad from Group B of their Division in a playoff, to secure Division A promotion.

India's Preliminary Round Schedule - All timings IST

• October 22 - India vs. Nepal - 8 PM
• October 23 - Iran vs. India - 8 PM
• October 24 - India vs. Sri Lanka - 8 PM

India is the highest ranked team in this group and their entire division. They should be able to cruise past Nepal, although Iran, whose women's teams haven't played in international tournaments for many years, will be the wildcards. Sri Lanka will pose somewhat of a threat, but hopefully, India can propel past them, too. Group B feature two legitimate challenges to India's promotion ambitions: Malaysia and Kazakhstan. The Senior Women's team had to slay the Kazakhs in dramatic fashion in their final game in July; there's a good chance that one of these teams could be testing India to the limit at the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Championship, too.

Meanwhile, the Division A matches should add for some intrigue as now Oceania's powerhouse Australia will challenging China and Japan's place at the top of this fray. Korea and Chinese Taipei are two other teams that could make some noise in this tournament. India's demotion to Division B is a pity, but it could give the home fans the opportunity to see India notch up more victories and end up with a good record - even if it only comes against worse teams.

Hall of Famer Yao Ming is in India for the FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Bengaluru!

In what turned out to be a pleasant surprise, Chinese basketball legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Yao Ming arrived on India on Wednesday night to attend the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2017 in Bengaluru. Yao, 36, indisputably the most successful Asian basketball player in history, retired from the game in 2011 and is currently the president of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

The FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2017 is the biggest competition for teams from Asia and Oceania, and is being held in India for the first time in eight years from July 23-29. Yao's country-women from China are once again one of the favourites at this tournament and have most-recently defeated the Philippines at Bengaluru's Sri Kantaveera Stadium to make it to the semi-finals.

This is huge news, metaphorically and literally. Despite ending his playing years early to chronic foot injuries, the 7-foot-6 Yao enjoyed a successful career. He excelled in the CBA with the Shanghai Sharks in his youth, became number one pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, dominated the paint to become one of the league's best big men (he just happened to be playing in the Shaq era, unfortunately), and became one of the most popular basketball players worldwide. The Chinese sports icon won three FIBA Asia gold medals for his country and carried China's national flag for his delegation during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2016, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

This is Yao's second trip to India. Before he got into the fast-lane to superstardom, Yao took an early step to success in Calcutta at the FIBA Asia U18 Championship back in 1998, as an 18-year-old. Yao was the best player in Team China at the tournament and helped with win the gold medal and took home the tournament's MVP trophy. He was a rookie with the Shanghai Sharks then, and a few years later won the CBA MVP award, the CBA title, and was drafted to the NBA, and the rest is history. During an interview I did with Yao in Shanghai for SLAM Magazine in 2014, he told me that he still harboured great memories of India because of his early success.

China will be hoping that Yao's presence proves to be their good-luck charm as they look to end Japan's recent dominance at this competition and win the gold medal. Meanwhile, India is in Division B of the tournament and have a starkly different ambition: just to qualify for the higher Division A.

What makes Yao's trip even more special is that he arrived in India less than 24-hours before another worldwide super-duper basketball star, Kevin Durant. Durant, however, is spending in time in the north, where he will be training players at the NBA Academy India in Greater Noida.

Hosts Vijaya Bank win 3rd Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament in Bengaluru

A tantalizing finale between two 'bankmen' settled the 3rd Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament, a prestigious, invitational club basketball meet, in Bengaluru on Sunday, October 23rd. The host team Vijaya Bank (Bengaluru), a young squad that grew up leaps and bounds as the tournament progressed, defeated Indian Bank (Chennai) 86-82 in a tightly-contested finale. The victory gave the hosts their first every victory in the third edition of this tournament.

Held at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru from October 19-23, 2016, the tournament marks the memory of the Late Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty, a longstanding former Chairman of Vijaya Bank, who was instrumental in the growth of the bank through the 60s and 70s. There were 7 teams in the fray in this tournament, divided into two Groups. The top two teams from each Group progressed to the semifinals followed by the finals. Several top Indian international players took part, both from the senior and junior teams.

Two of those rising young international talents made their mark in a memorable back-and-forth competition in the final, Vijaya Bank's Arvind Arumugam and Indian Bank's Hariram Ragupathy. Indian Bank held a slight advantage earlier in the game, as his team led 45-43 at halftime. But a crucial third-quarter run turned proceedings in Vijaya Bank's favour, who outscored their opponents 23-14 in the period to take a lead. Ragupathy (34) and A. Surya (20) led a comeback for Indian Bank, but they fell short as Vijaya Bank won the final 86-82. Arumugam finished the final with a cherry on top of his fantastic performances all tournament with a game-high 38.

Earlier in the day, during the third/fourth place clash, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) from Chennai relied on 28 points by Justin to defeat Kochi's Customs and Central Excise, who were led by international talent Basil Philip (18).

For his dominant performances, the winning squad's star Arvind Arumugam was named the tournament's MVP. Guruprasad Nayak of President's 11 (Karnataka) was named the Most Promising Player of the tournament. Vijaya Bank’s MD and CEO Kishore Kumar Sansi was the chief guest for the finale and he distributed the team and individual trophies and cash prizes.

Final Standings

• 1. Vijaya Bank
• 2. Indian Bank
• 3. Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Rankings

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

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

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

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

India to host South Asia Qualifiers for 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge in Bengaluru: Full Roster and Preview

Over the past year and a half, Karnataka's capital city Bengaluru has also become the capital of Indian Basketball, as the new executive committee of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has shifted the federation's head office down south from New Delhi. Now, once again, Bengaluru is set to play center-stage and host, as the city's famous Sri Kantaveera Stadium will host the South Asian qualifiers for the FIBA Asia Challenge Cup from July 6-8. India's senior men's basketball squad, the defending champions of these qualifiers, will set out to defend their title in a round robin league format against Nepal, Bangladesh, and Maldives.

India's 12-man roster for these qualifiers has also been announced, which will be captained by Punjabi big man Amrit Pal Singh and coached by Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph. The detailed anouncements regarding this regional competition were made by BFI President K Govindaraj at a press conference held on Sunday, July 3rd at the Karnataka Olympic Association building within the Kanteerava Stadium complex in the city.

After the round-robin tournament, the team with the best record at the end of this championship will progress from the South Asian region to the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge scheduled for 9th to 18th September in Tehran, Iran. A round robin tournament is when each team will face every other team in the tournament once, and the final standings will be based on win/loss statistics. The South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) serves as a sub-zone qualifier for the FIBA Asia Challenge.

The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge is the second step in the qualification process for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, which will be the first continental cup that will see participants from both Asia and Oceania. The FIBA Asia Cup (starting in 2017) was previously known as the FIBA Asia Championship and the FIBA Asia Challenge (starting in 2016) was previously known as the FIBA Stankovic / Asia Cup. These changes were decided on at the second meeting of the 2014-19 FIBA Asia Central Board which took place in New Delhi on 30th-31st January 2016.

India has won three of the last four editions of these qualifiers, with Bangladesh scoring a victory in 2013 when India did not participate.

Tentative Fixtures (Subject to Change)

• July 6: India vs. Nepal - 5 PM
• July 6: Bangladesh vs. Maldives - 6.30 PM
• July 7: Nepal vs. Bangladesh - 5 PM
• July 7: Maldives vs. India - 6:30 PM
• July 8: Maldives vs. Nepal - 4:30 PM
• July 7: India vs. Bangladesh - 6 PM

"From accommodation to the indoor playing facility, all the arrangements have been made for the players and coaches to ensure a successful conduct of the event," said Govindraj, "Additionally, entry is free because we want to encourage youngsters to come and watch the matches."

India’s training camp had begun at Kanteerava, Bengaluru on 22nd June with 30 players, and the final selections were made on 26th June. The Indian squad will feature a mixture of youth and experience, and captained by center Amrit Pal Singh, who has returend from winning Japan's NBDL championship with Toyko Excellence. Also returning to the Indian team is guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, ONGC veteran forward Yadwinder Singh, high energy point guard Talwinderjit Singh 'TJ' Sahi, and guard Arjun Singh. Other familiar faces are guard Akilan Pari, centre Rikin Pethani (both Income Tax, Chennai), Basil Philip (Central Customs & Excise, Kochi), power forward Arvind Arumugam (Vijaya Bank, Bengaluru) and center Aravind Annadurai (Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai). Promising shooter Arshpreet Bhullar (Punjab) and big man Ravi Bhardwaj (Chandigarh) will make their senior team debut at this tournament. Missing from this tournament will be India's star player Amjyot Singh, who is currently in Japan.

Team India for SABA Qualifying Round 2016

• Arshpreet Singh Bhullar (Punjab)
• Arjun Singh (ONGC)
• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (ONGC)
• Amrit Pal Singh (ONGC) - Captain
• Basil Philip (Customs and Central Excise)
• Rikin Pethani (Income Tax)
• Aravind Annadurai (IOB)
• Arvind Arumugam (Vijaya Bank)
• Ravi Bhardwaj (Chandigarh)
• Akilan Pari (Income Tax)
• TJ Sahi (Punjab)
• Head Coach: Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph
• Assistant Coach: CV Sunny

Income Tax (Chennai) win 2015 Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty Basketball Tournament in Bengaluru

For five days, eight of India's top basketball clubs and states gathered together in Bengaluru for the 2nd Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament, an invitational championship held at the city's Sri Kantaveera Stadium. Eventually, the tournament's finale pitted together Chennai's Income Tax and Dehradun's ONGC in a memorable clash. Income Tax's impressive first half effort set the tone for them, as they outlasted ONGC to win the final 70-56 and lift the winner's trophy.

Tipping off on October 7, the tournament was organized and sponsored by Vijaya Bank and held in the memory of the Late Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty, a longstanding former Chairman who was instrumental in the growth of the bank through the 60s and 70s. It was held under the auspices of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA).

ONGC were in the final of the tournament for the second consecutive year after finishing as runners-up in the tournament's debut a year ago. Despite having veteran international big names in the squad, ONGC were missing star Indian center Amrit Pal Singh (playing professionally in Japan) and had to contend with an injured Yadwinder Singh. Early in the game, a scuffle got Yadwinder, ONGC teammate Murali Krishan and Income Tax's Ravi Kumar all throw out of the game.

Income Tax made the most of their slight advantage by taking a huge early lead and stretching it out to 44-24 by halftime. Despite the best efforts of India captain and ONGC's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (24) in the second half, Income Tax did enough to keep their lead secure and win 70-56. Ram Kumar (22) and international big man Rikin Pethani (19) led the way for the winning side.

Income Tax's MA Raghuram was named the tournament's MVP while his teammate Ram Kumar was given the Most Promising Player award.

Earlier in the day, home team Vijaya Bank - led by Anil Kumar (26) and Arvind (19) - outlasted Thiruvanathapuram's Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in a highly competitive clash to win the bronze medal in the tournament. KSEB's Alvin Baby scored 32 points and helped his squad lead a charge back in the game's second half, but Vijaya Bank did just enough to win the game 65-61.

Final: Income Tax (Ram Kumar 22, Rikin Pethani 19) bt ONGC (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 24, Riyazuddin 14) 70-56 [20-10, 24-14, 17-19, 9-13].

Final Standings

• 1. Income Tax
  
• 2. ONGC
  
• 3. Vijaya Bank
  

Team India for 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship selected in Bengaluru

22 of India's top women's basketball player - all competing to wear the national colours at the biggest basketball tournament in Asia at the end of the month - came together under one roof for intensive selection trials at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, August 9. All 22 probables have been training under India's Women's Head Coach Francisco Garcia at the venue since July 20th, and on Sunday, the final selection trials decided the 15-women roster that will head to Wuhan (China) for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship for Women from August 29 to September 5.

The trials began from 10 AM onwards on Sunday. Members of the Indian media have been invited to the venue to witness the final selection trials, and speak to the selection committee, players, and Coach Garcia.

Garcia, who returned to coach the national team after an absence of a few months, picked almost a full-strength squad for India, including established or rising young stars like Anitha Paul Durai, Shireen Limaye, Jeena PS, Kavita Akula, Poojamol KS, and more. Of course, the absence of India's Arjuna Award winning legendary player Geethu Anna Jose will be felt, but Garcia told me in an interview last month that he hopes that the team will be able to rise to the plate without her.

Probables for India's Senior Women's Basketball team

• Rajapriyadarshani R (Indian Railways)
• Stephy Nixon (Kerala)
  
• Poojamol KS (Kerala)
  
• Apporva Muralinath (Indian Railways)
  
• Srividhya V (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Smruthi Radhakrishnan (Indian Railways)
  
• Jeena PS (Kerala)
• Sitamani Tudu (Indian Railways)
• Anjana PG (Kerala)
  
• Sruthi Menon (Maharashtra)
• Anitha Paul Durai (Indian Railways)
  
• Shireen Limaye (Maharashtra)
  
• Barkha Sonkar (Uttar Pradesh)
  
• Kavita Akula (Chhattisgarh)
  
• Bhandavya HM (Karnataka)
• Head Coach: Francisco Garcia
  
• Coach: Aparna Ghosh
  

Selection Committee: T. Chengalraya Naidu (President, Andhra Pradesh Basketball Association), Satprakash Yadav, Leelama Thomas, Pratibha Suriyashekar.

“It is the best 15 in my opinion. We have a good balance for every position.” Coach Garcia said after the final selection. “I didn't have any trouble with respect to coaching these players. I am focused on working with the team. In Bengaluru, there have been fewer administrative deficiencies.”

India win 2015 South Asian Basketball Championship, qualify for FIBA Asia Championship

After several months of disarray and disappointments, Indian basketball has been saved by the very thing that it was failing to save: basketball itself. As the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) divided house and caused the Ministry of Sports to stop basketball events in India altogether, a temporary respite gave the country a chance to host the 4th South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Championship last week. India's Senior Men's squad responded in style, dominating all five of their South Asian opponents to finish with a perfect 5-0 record to retain the SABA Championship title. More importantly, by winning this title for the second consecutive time, India have qualified for the bigger, better challenge ahead: the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship later this year.

The SABA Championship was held in Bengaluru, India, at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium, from July 3-5, 2015. In the round-robin tournament, India defeated Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka to finish the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record.

India was short of some of the top available talent for this championship, including Satnam Singh (who has been drafted into the NBA), Amjyot Singh, Amrit Pal Singh (both are playing professionally in Japan), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and Yadwinder Singh (both injured). Additionally, Head Coach Scott Flemming departed from the team and his successor, S. Bhaskar, didn't receive his leave from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in time to join the squad in Bengaluru. India instead fielded a younger, less experienced team - featuring five players making their senior debuts - and were coached by trainer GLR Prasad. Big man Rikin Pethani took on the captain's mantle for this tournament.

But no amount of hindrances could stop India, and the opponents from our neighbouring countries proved to be perfect fodder for India to improve morale, prepare for the FIBA Asia Championship, and distract media attention to real basketball instead of the ongoing political mess.

India started off the tournament against Nepal on Friday morning, and just like they have in the past, our opponents struggled against India's dominant size inside. Led by Narender Grewal's game-high 17 points, India showed no mercy defeating Nepal 90-37, outscoring them by at least double digits in every quarter for their best defensive performance at the tournament.

On Friday evening, India was back on the court to face Bangladesh, and this time, it was their offense that shone bright. Rising young star A. Arvind led all scorers with 19 as India unleashed hell from the very first tip, outscoring Bangladesh by 25, 22, and 28 in the first three quarters. When the dust settled, India sat easy with a 122-39 win, their biggest margin of victory at the championship (83 points!).

India played just one game on Saturday, against Bhutan. Once again, it was India's start that undid any hope for the opponents, as they got off to a 39-6 advantage, leading by 33 by the very first quarter. Bhutan shaped things up to match India 20-20 in the second quarter, but India kept their foot on the gas pedal after halftime and won the game 119-52. Point guard Joginder Singh returned to the lineup with a triple double (12 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), Gurvinder Gill dropped 20 points, while Arvind notched 19 points to go with 10 rebounds.

In the last day of games, Sunday, India first played the Maldives, in what turned out to be their best offensive performance. Led by Prasanna Venkatesh (26), Rikin Pethani (21) and Akashdeep Hazra (17), India was dominant from start to finish en route to a 128-48 win.

The final game of the tournament pitted the two undefeated teams, India and Sri Lanka, against each other, with a title and a place at the FIBA ABC on the line. India didn't want to leave anything to chance after a 22-13 start, taking a 20 point lead at halftime and then blowing the gates open with a dominant third quarter. Aravind Annadurai scored 22 points and Pratham Singh added 17 for India in the 93-44 victory.

In total, India defeated each opponent by an average of over 66 points each. It was a balanced effort from beginning to end for India, who got to give a chance to a lot of young players, but it was A. Arvind who perhaps stood out with his consistent performances the most. The big question for India is how many of these young players will remain in the team's core with the FIBA ABC's come around. If our three best players in recent years - Bhrigvanshi, Amrit Pal, and Amjyot - return, they are sure to snatch back their starting spots and eventually kick some of the younger players out of the rotation. But that will be a good problem to have for the coach, who will need his veteran stars if India hope to make the same waves at the FIBA ABC as they did at the FIBA Asia Cup last year.

The winning team was given a cash prize of Rs 35,000 by the BFI. Trophies and medals were handed out to the top three teams of India (gold), Sri Lanka (silver) and Nepal (bronze).

Final Standings

• 1. India
  
• 2. Sri Lanka
  
• 3. Nepal
  

The 2015 FIBA Asia Championship will be held in Changsha, China from September 23 to October 3. The group draw for the tournament has already been made, and India will slot into Group A with Iran, Japan, and Malaysia.

BFI announces Senior Men's basketball team probables and schedule for national coaching camp

With an eye forward at the 4th South Asian Basketball Championship and the 28th FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has announced the list of 24 senior national men's team probables for the upcoming national coaching camp, scheduled to be held at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium in Bengaluru (Karnataka) from June 15 to July 11. This is the first national coaching camp of the year organized by the BFI. India will also host the upcoming South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Championship at the same venue in Bengaluru during the course of the national camp, from July 3-5.

Several Indian star players, such as Amjyot Singh, Amrit Pal Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Pratham Singh, and Satnam Singh Bhamara have been invited for this camp. Out of the 24 players invited, Amjyot, Amrit Pal, and Satnam Singh may not attend the camp because of their professional basketball engagements abroad: Amjyot and Amrit Pal have signed summer league contracts with a team in the BJ League in Japan while Satnam is pursuing the NBA Draft in the hope to become the first Indian citizen in the NBA.

Here is the full list of probables invited for the national coaching camp:

• Amjyot Singh (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Amrit Pal Singh (Uttarakhand)
  
• Akilan Pari (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Joginder Singh (Services)
  
• S. Prasanna Venkatesh (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Pratham Singh (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Rikin Pethani (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Uttarakhand)
  
• Yadwinder Singh (Uttarakhand)
  
• Narender Grewal (Service)
  
• Himanshu Sharma (Haryana)
  
• Vikash Sharma (Haryana)
  
• Akashdeep Hazra (Indian Railways)
  
• Arvind A. (Karnataka)
  
• Rajesh Prakash Uppar (Karnataka)
  
• Basil Phillip (Kerala)
  
• Siddhant Shinde (Maharashtra)
  
• Gurvinder Singh Gill (Punjab)
  
• A. Arvind (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Jeevanatham (Tamil Nadu)
  
• Murli Krishnan (Uttarakhand)
  
• Satnam Singh Bhamara (Punjab)
  
• Vinay Kaushik (Gujarat)
  
• Pravesh Rathee (Services)
  

It still hasn't been confirmed who will be the coach of India's Senior Men's Basketball team at the camp, since the former American coach Scott Flemming left the team last month.

The schedule of events at the National Coaching Camp at Sri Kantaveera Stadium in Bengaluru:

• June 15-20: – National Coaching Camp for 24 probables.
  
• June 19-20: Selection of Players for next Camp and 4th South Asian Basketball Championship.
  
• June 21 - July 2: National Coaching Camp for 16 probables.
  
• July 3-5: 4th South Asian Basketball Championship (Qualifying Round for 28th FIBA Asia Championship).
  
• July 6-11: National Coaching Camp for 16 probables.
  

Last year's SABA Championship/Qualifiers were held in Kathmandu (Nepal) and won by India. This year, the teams playing at the SABA championship will be: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

ONGC Men & Tamil Nadu women win 27th Federation Cup in Bangalore

The finals of one of India’s premier national basketball competitions – the 27th Federation Cup All India National Basketball Championship for Men & Women – came down to a deservingly exciting finish at the Sri Kantaveera Stadium in Bangalore (Karnataka) on Sunday, February 3rd. An up-and-down matchup in the Women’s finale saw Tamil Nadu survive for a 1-point win against Maharashtra. In the Men’s Final, Uttarakhand’s dominant side ONGC stormed their way to a blowout victory over IOB (Chennai).

Click here to read full recap!

27th Federation Cup tips off in Bangalore today!

The 27th annual edition of one India's biggest club basketball competitions - the Federation Cup All India Basketball Tournament - tips off this year in the city of Bangalore on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. A total of 17 top club sides from across India (Nine Men's teams and Eight Women's teams) have qualified for this tournament, which will be held at Bangalore's famous Sri Kantaveera Basketball Stadium.

The tournament is being organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA). The finals of the tournament are slated to be held on February 3.

Defending their title this season will be Punjab Police, last year's surprise champions in the Men's division in Kochi. Women's champions from last year Southern Railway will not be at the tournament; instead, many of their players will be playing for their home states. Fans will be out cheering for the home teams, which will be Vijaya Bank for the Men's division and Karnataka Women.

There are special eligibility rules for the Federation Cup, which are based on the top eight Men’s and Women’s teams from the previous year’s National Basketball Championship, which ended in Chennai in December 2011. For the Men’s championship, the champion club/unit in each state’s internal basketball championship will be invited to play in the Federation Cup. For the Women’s championship, it is the state/unit teams themselves (usually) that take part.

KSBBA secretary K Govindaraj said “The indoor stadium is ready to host the best players from around the country, and all the players who featured in the National championships will be in attendance here.”

Via this article on SportsKeeda by Siddarth Sharma, here is the list of participating teams in their groups this year:

Men

Group A: Punjab Police (Punjab), Customs & Central Excise (Kerala), Indian Air Force (Services), Captain's Club (Delhi), Vijaya Bank (Karnataka).

Group B: Indian Overseas Bank (Tamil Nadu), South Central Railway (Andhra Pradesh), Jind (Haryana), ONGC (Uttarakhand).

Women

Group A: South Eastern Railways (Bilaspur), Delhi, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh.

Group B: Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra.

This is the first time in 24 years that Karnataka is hosting the Federation Cup. The winning teams will win Rs. 1 lakh, while the first and second runners-up will go home with Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 50,000 respectively.

Check out a more in-depth preview of the tournament by Siddarth Sharma here.