Japan (Men) and Australia (Women) win FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup 2019 in Malaysia; Recap with India's results

The 5th edition of FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup was held at the Gem-In Mall in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, from August 22-24. On the final day on Saturday, Japan's Men and Australia's Women emerged as the best of the best to claim the gold. India also participated: India's women's team made the Quarter-Finals and finished at an encouraging 7th place; India's Men fell in the Qualifying Round to finish 13th.

Japan were dominant throughout the tournament, and finished with an easy win in the Men's final, 21-13.

In the women's category, Australia had a perfect 5-0 record and dominated Japan in the final with a decisive 21-10 victory.

Japan's Seishin Yokochi was named Men's MVP after a game-high 9 points in the final. The women's MVP was Australia's Shyla Heal, who hit a game-high 8 points in the final.

Philippines won the women's bronze medal with a 14-11 win over China. The men's bronze went to China, who beat Australia 21-17.

India fielded a talented squad for the women's team, featuring experienced youngster Pushpa Senthil Kumar, Khushi Dongre, Sreekala Rani, and rising star Harsimran Kaur. India made it past the qualifying round with a dominant first win over Maldives (21-4) and a couple of impressive close finishes to defeat Thailand (17-13) and Chinese Taipei (17-15).

The squad moved on to Pool C of the main tournament, alongside Turkmenistan and New Zealand. India decimated Turkmenistan in an impressive 21-4 showing, but lost in a nail-biter to NZ, 16-14.

India's run came to an end in the Quarter-Final, where they lost to a stacked China squad, 22-3. They finished the tournament at 7th place.

India's men's team featured a group of experienced young players, led by Princepal Singh, Harshwardhan Tomar, Rajveer Singh Bhati, and Rajeev Kumar. India were in Qualifying Draw B with Maldives, Chinese Taipei, and Australia. India won their first two games, beating Maldives (20-5) and Chinese Taipei (21-16). But their journey concluded to the mighty Australians, who defeated them 19-15.

Final Standings

Men

• 1. Japan
• 2. Kazakhstan
• 3. Australia
• 4. China
• 5. Philippines

Women

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

Teams of the Tournament

Men

• Seishin Yokochi (Japan) - MVP
• Daniel Foster (Australia)
• Arsentiy Kushniruk (Kazakhstan)

Women

• Shyla Heal (Australia) - MVP
• Saori Yasue (Japan)
• Kristine Cayabyab (Philippines)

Indonesia (Women) and China (Men) win 2017 FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup

Indonesia’s women and China’s men struck gold in the third edition of the FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup, held in the Gem-In Shopping Mall in Cyberjaya, Malaysia from May 26-28, 2017. Both of India's teams lost on the first day of the tournament in the qualifying round.

After dropping their first preliminary round game, Indonesia's Women won four straight to get the gold medal, including a dominant performance in the final against hosts Malaysia, 13-6.

In the men’s category, China’s men won gold after defeating Chinese Taipei in the final 17-12.

India's junior boys and girls teams started the tournament in qualifying groups but failed to qualify for the preliminary round stage. The junior boys lost their first game against Lebanon 12-18 and went on to lose their second game against Turkmenistan 9-20 to finish with a 0-2 record in the tournament. The junior women finished the tournament 1-1 as they beat Turkmenistan 21-9 but fell to Chinese Taipei 17-12

Final Standings

Women

• 1. Indonesia
• 2. Malaysia
• 3. China

Men

• 1. China
• 2. Chinese Taipei
• 3. Qatar

China's Hoanan Li and Indonesia's Lea Kahol were named MVPs of the tournament.

India’s Junior Boys and Girls teams all set to participate in the FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup 2017 in Malaysia

Continuing to ride the wave of the growing popularity of 3x3 basketball, India have sent their junior boys and girls squads to Cyberjaya, Malaysia, to take part in the third edition of the FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup 2017. The tournament will be held between 26-28 May and will see 32 teams (16 each for men and women) competing to be crowned Asia’s best.

India have a strong history at this tournament. At the very first FIBA Asia U18 3x3 held in Thailand in 2013, India's boys and girls both came home with silver medals. However, India didn't play in last year's edition of this tournament, which was won by Qatar (Boys) and Japan (Girls).

India will be starting from a point of disadvantage this time around, as both our boys and girls teams have to go through a qualifying round first before being eligible to make it to the group stage of the championship. The men will be going up against Turkmenistan and Lebanon while the women will face Chinese Taipei and Turkmenistan. If the teams were to top their pool and qualify, the men will be placed in pool with defending champions Qatar while the women would be placed in a pool against Japan – an Asian powerhouse, who also are the defending champs.

Boys Qualifying Draw 1: Turkmenistan, India, Lebanon.
Girls Qualifying Draw 1: Turkmenistan, India, Chinese Taipei.

India’s Schedule [Timings in IST]

Men

• 26-05-17: India (14) vs Lebanon (15) (8:05 am)
• 26-05-17: India (14) vs Turkmenistan (8) (8:45 am)

Women

• 26-05-17: India (14) vs Turkmenistan (15) (8:25 am)
• 26-05-17: India (14) vs Chinese Taipei (15) (9:05 am)

The matches can be streamed live on FIBA 3x3’s YouTube channel. The link: https://www.youtube.com/FIBA3x3

The selection trial for this event was held on 21st April 2017 at the National Basketball Academy – Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Former Olympian Dilip Gurumurthy of Karnataka will be leading the boys while girls are being led by Indian Railways’ Jeena Zachariah. "The tournament is going to be a great learning experience for our players. We hope that the exposure they get due to such opportunities help them develop their game and become better as players," said Gurumurthy. "We have been seeded against two of the better teams (Turkmenistan and Chinese Taipei) of the tournament. We aim to give it our best and hope to qualify for Pool C," said Zachariah.

India's Squads for 2017 FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup

Men

• Bhagyansh Gulati
• Prashant Tomar
• Prince Pal Singh
• Sejin Mathew
• Coach: Dilip Gurumurthy

Women

• Ishwarya Janardhanan
• Sreekala Rani
• Vaishnavi Yadav
• Harshitha Kelttira Bopaiah
• Coach: Jeena Zachariah

2014 Asian Beach Games 3x3 basketball: Qatar (Men), Chinese Taipei (Women) win gold; India Men capture silver medal

Basketball may not necessarily be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Thailand's beach paradise Phuket, but it was this very destination that hosted the 4th Asian Beach Games, a 10-day long celebration of various beach sports, which also featured a short 3x3 beach basketball tournament. For four days, 12 men's teams and eight women's teams from all over Asia took part in quickfire half-court basketball games at the Karon Beach in Phuket. On the final day of the knockouts - Tuesday, November 18 - Qatar (Men) and Chinese Taipei (Women) emerged as gold-medal winners.

After a wonderful run through the tournament where India's Men's squad had won all five of their Preliminary Round games, the quarter-final, and the semi-final, they fell by the closest of margins - one solitary point - to Qatar in the Final. India had to thus settle for a silver medal, still an admirable result for the team which finished fifth at the tournament's last iteration in Haiyang two years ago. India's Women - reigning champs from 2012 - could not repeat their success after choosing to send a far less experienced team to Phuket. India lost all three of their games to finish at seventh place.

The Men's final was a memorable affair between Qatar and India, with the latter attempting to win this tournament for the second time after a gold medal back in 2008. In a neck-to-neck game which was decided by just one point, Qatar edged India by the closest of margins - 21-20 - to win the tournament. Boney Watson led Qatar with nine points in the final while India's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi scored eight in the loss.

In a lower-scoring Women's final, Lo Pin scored eight points to help Chinese Taipei defeat China 15-13 and capture the gold medal.

Both the bronze medals were won by hosts Thailand. The Thai women defeated Mongolia 13-7 to win bronze while Thailand's Men edged Bangladesh in a close contest, 17-15.

Earlier in the day, India had shown no mercy to neighbours Bangladesh with a comfortable 21-6 victory in the Men's semi-final. Qatar had secured their place in the Men's final with a 21-16 win over Thailand. In the women's semi-finals, China had defeated Thailand 17-13 and Chinese Taipei had overcome Mongolia 17-10.

India's four-member squad in the Men's competition was led by Pratham Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Amrit Pal Singh, and Yadwinder Singh. The star-studded squad - comprising of all players from the senior national men's team - finished the tournament with a 7-1 record with their only loss in the final.

India opened the tournament with a 21-9 win over Bhutan and a 21-4 thrashing of Laos later in the same day. India showed no mercy in front of the hostile home crowd to defeat Thailand 21-4. Their closest Preliminary stage win was against Mongolia, 18-4. India finished off the group stage to finish top of Group B with a head-turning 18-12 win against China. In the Quarter-Finals on Tuesday, India had dispatched Turkmenistan 21-11 before moving on to their semi-final and final contests against Bangladesh and Qatar.

At an average age of 20, Team India sent a younger squad to Phuket for the 3x3 tournament, led by Kavita Kumari, Jeena PS, Poojamol Kochuparambu, and Rajaganapathi Rajapriyadharshini. Despite some exciting young talent on offer, Indian eves failed to impress, finishing bottom of their group with three losses and failing to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.

India first game in Group A was also their best, but despite a strong defensive performance, they couldn't do enough to prevent losing 13-11 to the Philippines. Over the next two games, India also lost to China (18-12) and Mongolia (21-12). They finished the tournament 0-3 and at seventh place overall.

Final Standings

Men

• 1. Qatar
  
• 2. India
  
• 3. Thailand
  

Women

• 1. Chinese Taipei
  
• 2. China
  
• 3. Thailand
  

India's Women are FIBA Asia 3x3 Basketball Champions; Men out in QFs

Maybe a change in the format of the game was all that Indian basketball needed for their big boost.

India hasn't had any memorable success in international basketball for long stretches of its history. But ever since FIBA has begun to promote the newer, 3x3 format of the game, India has gone all in, addint their best players in the 3x3 rosters and seeing some dominant results, particularly in the Women's division.

And now, India's Women are officially on top of the Asian 3x3 Basketball ladder. India won gold at the inaugural FIBA Asia 3x3 Basketball Championship in Doha (Qatar), defeating Mongolia 21-14 in the final game on May 16th. This win marked India's third consecutive gold medal in the 3x3 format of the game, after winning gold at the South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka and at the Asian Beach Games in China last year.

India - featuring the likes of Geethu Anna Jose, Anitha Paul Durai, Manisha Dange, and Pratima Singh - came in as one of the favourites of the tournament, and justified the hype by winning all six of their games with relative ease en route to the championship. Jose, India's biggest basketball superstar, was named the 'Best Player' of the tournament!

Post the win, Jose said that the India squad "achieved what we set out to do," and Anitha Pauldurai added that "it was a team effort that helped India’s win."

India's Men's team won two of their three group stage games but lost in the Quarter Final to eventual silver-medalists Saudi Arabia.

Qatar, the home team who featured two teams in each division of the championship, saw their 'Maroon' side win the gold in the Men's division, beating Saudi Arabia in the final. They were undefeated in the tournament.

The two-day tournament tipped off in Doha on May 15th, featuring 16 Men's teams and 10 Women's teams. Notably missing from the participants were teams from Asian powerhouses like China, Korea, Japan, and Chinese Taipei in contention for the Women. China, Asia's strongest basketball-playing nation, didn't take part in either division.

India's Women, in Group B of the Women's division, kicked off their campaign on Wednesday with an easy 20-6 win against Lebanon. They continued this form with wins over Mongolia (21-9), and Nepal (21-4). Their game against Qatar (grey) was cancelled. On Thursday, India faced off against Qatar in the Quarter Final, and completely dominated the hosts to cruise to a 21-5 victory. India defeated Hong Kong 21-8 in the Semi-Final, and their closest contest didn't come until the finale itself when they defeated Mongolia 21-14. In a format of the game that lasts only 10 minutes of playing time, India did marvelously to defeat each opponent by an average of 11.3 points per game.

The Men's field was much tougher, and the relatively-younger four-man squad representing India - Ajay Pratap Singh, Ranbir Singh Virdi, Arjun Singh, and Pratham Singh - had a good run despite getting knocked out at the Quarter-Final stage to Saudi Arabia, who defeated them 16-5 on Thursday evening. India went 2-1 in the Group Stage a day earlier, defeating Indonesia (21-13) and and Turkmenistan (19-17), but losing to heavyweights Iran 21-14. The Final of the Men's tournament was held between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and won by the home side in a thrilling 19-17 contest.

Iran (Men) beat Jordan 19-8 to finish third place, and in the Women's division, the third-place game was decided in a low scoring game woman that went in favour of Turkmenistan over Hong Kong 10-8.

Final Standings

Men

Gold: Qatar (Maroon)
Silver: Saudi Arabia
Bronze: Iran

Women

Gold: India
Silver: Mongolia
Bronze: Turkmenistan

Dream Team All Star Selection

Men

Boney Watson (Qatar)
Fadel El Zubi (Jordan)
Moosa Nabipour (Iran)

Women

Geethu Anna Jose (India)
Nigyara Nagiyeva (Turkmenistan)
Lea Abi Ghosn (Lebanon)

Congrats Ladies, and congrats Geethu, who continues to be the Boss of Indian hoops - and one of the most-feared competitors in Asian hoops. We hope that the Men can begin to duplicate the success in the coming years too. India's Women can look ahead to now taking part in the 3x3 FIBA World Championships. But the most important step ahead should be to start focusing this new-found confidence and success on the official 5x5 version of basketball so India can start making some more waves in Asian and in the rest of the world, too!

Team India (Men & Women) contend at 1st FIBA Asia 3x3 Basketball Championship in Qatar

We know who the best basketball teams in Asia are. And now, for the first time, Asia’s top sides will contend amongst each other in an official FIBA tournament to reveal who will emerge as the strongest country in the game’s strongest side in the 3x3 basketball format. Worldwide, there has been increased attention on 3x3 hoops – from international tournament to inner-city competitions – and we’ll see the format competed at the top Asian level on May 15-16 at the 1st FIBA Asia 3x3 Basketball Championship for Men and Women in Doha (Qatar). Both of India’s Senior Men and Women’s teams have qualified for the tournament.

On April 24 in Kuala Lampur (Malaysia), FIBA Asia held the draw for the inaugural edition of the 2013 events, which included the 3x3 Championships in Doha and the U18 3x3 Championships that will be held next week in Bangkok (Thailand). For the Doha 3x3 Championship, India’s Men have been drawn in Group B along with Indonesia, Turkmenistan, and Iran, while the Women have been drawn in Group B with Qatar Grey, Mongolia, Lebanon, and Nepal.

A total of 16 men’s teams (from 15 nations) and 10 women’s teams (from nine nations) will be taking part in the inaugural tournament. Hosts Qatar will be fielding two teams for each division.

Despite being minnows in many recent FIBA Asia Basketball tournaments, India has actually enjoyed quite a successful recent history in 3x3 competitions at Asia level. India's Men and Women both dominated the South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka two years ago where they both won gold medals; and more importantly, India's Women's team won gold at the 3rd Asian Beach Games in China against the hosts last year.

Here are India’s Rosters for this tournament. Each team has four players; three starters and one off the bench.

India Men: Ajay Pratap Singh, Ranbir Singh Virdi, Arjun Singh, Pratham Singh.

India Women: Geethu Anna Jose, Anitha Paul Durai, Manisha Dange, Pratima Singh.

The group stage of the tournament will be held on Wednesday, May 15, and the knockout stages will be held on May 16th. Here the Schedule for India’s group stage games on May 15 (all timings Doha):

Men

- 4 PM: India vs. Indonesia
- 6 PM: Iran vs. India
- 7:20 PM: India vs. Turkmenistan

Women

- 4 PM: Lebanon vs. India
- 6:40 PM: India vs. Qatar Grey
- 7:20 PM: Mongolia vs. India
- 8 PM: India vs. Nepal

The first thing to note from the list of participating teams in either division is that Asian basketball heavyweights China aren't taking part in the competition, and neither are Korea and Japan Women. Nevertheless, there will still be some big challenges for India to survive if they hope to make history at this first-time tournament. The Men's team - which consists of younger, more inexperienced players rather than India's Senior level veterans - will face a major powerhouse in Iran in the group stage, and will have to look out for other challenging sides like Lebanon, Jordan, Japan, Qatar, Chinese Taipei, and Philippines ahead.

India's Women's side could have a real chance at a podium finish. Without the big four of China, Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei in contention, India could be considered as one of the early tournament favourites. With experienced superstars Geethu Anna Jose, Anitha Paul Durai, Manisha Dange, and Pratima Singh leading the way, this team will be aiming for gold.

3rd Asian Beach Games: India’s Women bag 3x3 basketball gold; Men finish 5th

It was a dream finish for India’s 3x3 Women’s basketball team who won a gold medal after defeating China in the Final 17-14 at the 3rd Asian Beach Games in Haiyang, China. It was an undefeated run by Indian eves who won all five of their games including a thrilling comeback victory over the hosts. Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai scored the crucial last points to give India the final victory.

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