India's Women's team finish 4th at William Jones Cup; Cathay Life win Gold

India's Senior Women's basketball team returned from the 34th William Jones Cup Basketball Tournament from July 7-11, 2012 in Miaoli County, Taiwan with a 2-3 record to finish at fourth place out of six teams. India lost their first three games to Cathay Life, Chunghua Telecom, and Japan, before winning their last two versus Chapman University and Malaysia.

Cathay Life, a Taiwan-based club, won the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record.

The William Jones Cup is an invitational basketball championship held annually in Taiwan. This year's tournament was held at the Miaoli Dome Gymnasium in Miaoli County. The Men's tournament follows the Women's championship, but India's Men's team will not be taking part.

India started the tournament with their first game versus Japan - it was an 11 point loss for India, but even in defeat, they showed potential of the team's talent. India's superstar Geethu Anna Jose had a monster game with 34 points and 22 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to prevent a 86-75 loss. Jose was again on fire against Taiwanese club Chunghua Telecom as she put in 27 points and 15 rebounds in a 93-75 loss. Jose's teammate from Kerala - young star Jeena PS - dropped 24 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. India stood no chance in the next game versus Cathay Life which resulted in a 96-53 win for the eventual champions.

India regrouped in their fourth game against Chapman University from USA as they headed to a blowout 111-67 victory. Jose had 17 points and 15 rebounds to head a balanced attack for India's win. In their final game versus Malaysia, Jose was again the star with 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead India to a 75-62 win. Akanksha Singh added 17 points and 8 rebounds in the game.

Jose was India's undisputed superstar, leading with 22.8 ppg and 15 rpg through the course of the tournament. Jeena PS was India's second-highest scorer, pouring in 11.3 points per game.

Final Rankings:

• 1. Cathay Life 5-0
• 2. Chunghua Telecom 4-1
• 3. Japan 3-2
• 4. India 2-3
• 5. Malaysia 1-4
• 6. Chapman University 0-5

India were led by Head Coach C. Thinakaran and Assistant Coach Prem Kumar.