William Jones Cup 2017 (Women): Japan win; India finish 0-5

Under the leadership of a new, foreign head coach, India's women's team got off to a bumpy start in their first outing - the 2017 William Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei - but gained valuable experience against much-better squads to bring back home with them for the bigger challenge ahead.

India were one of six Women's teams that took part in the 39th William Jones Cup, a round robin tournament at the Changhua Gymnasium in Changhua in Chinese Taipei as a preparatory outing before the FIBA Asia Cup for Women destined to be held back at home in Bengaluru at the end of July. India were the only Division B team (the lower pool of the FIBA Asia Cup) at William Jones and lost all of their games to end at the bottom of the table. Nevertheless, the tournament turned out to be crucial for new Serbian head coach Zoran Visic to tinker with the team's lineups, instill some of his coaching style and philosophies, and provide the women with necessary competitive-game experience.

Three teams - Japan, New Zealand, and Chinese Taipei Blue - finished with identical 4-1 records to top the tournament fray, with a total of 9 points each and identical 1-1 records against each other. Japan, the current Asian champions, held the tie-breaker differential between the three teams with +1.07, and thus were named champions.

India's squad was captained by veteran star Anitha Paul Durai and feature other talents to watch like Jeena Scaria, Kavita Akula, Poojamol Subhashmon, and Shireen Limaye. Visic was joined in the coaching staff by veteran coach Shiba Maggon.

India's final scores at 39th William Jones Cup

• July 5: New Zealand bt. India 75-52
• July 6: Japan bt. India 93-42
• July 5: South Korea bt. India 56-51
• July 5: Chinese Taipei Blue bt. India 113-59
• July 5: Chinese Taipei White bt. India 79-41

India's 0-5 record dropped them to sixth/last place in the tournament. India were definitely a pace slower than all of their Division A opponents, but played a great game against South Korea in the close loss. Visic relied on the team's eldest players - Raspreet Sidhu and Anitha Paul Durai - to play the bulk of the minutes for the team. Paul Durai, Jeena Scaria, and Sidhu were India's top three scorers. Kavita Akula, Rajapriyadharshini Rajaganapathi, and Shireen Limaye also got to play major minutes through the course of the tournament.

India will now come back home for the FIBA Asia Cup in Bengaluru from July 23-29. In an interview a few weeks ago, Coach Visic had told me that the team will have to overcome their relative inexperience if they hope to win Division B and be relegated to the higher division for the Cup's next iteration. After playing against tougher opponents in Chinese Taipei, India should find their group - with Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan - a little easier. They will have to overcome Division B's Group B winners next, most likely to be Lebanon or Kazakhstan. With a home crowd cheering behind him, let's hope that the team can bounce back to Asia's higher level.

India are participating in the men's William Jones Cup, too, set to begin in Chinese Taipei on July 15.

India Women NT begin 2017 William Jones Cup campaign in Chinese Taipei today

It's been a little over a month since India hired Serbia's Zoran Visic to be the head coach of the Senior Women's National Basketball Team, with an eye for the marquee event of the summer: the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup for Women. Now, with about two weeks to go before the big tournament, Visic will get the first chance to see how the past month of practice and team-building has paid out as India's Women's NT have headed to Chinese Taipei to take part in the 39th William Jones Cup from July 5-9.

This will be a chance for India's first competitive games under the new coach. India's squad will be captained by veteran star Anitha Paul Durai and feature other talents to watch like Jeena Scaria, Kavita Akula, Poojamol Subhashmon, and Shireen Limaye. Visic will be joined in the coaching staff by veteran coach Shiba Maggon.

India are set to play against New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and two local Chinese Taipei in the round robin tournament at the Changhua Gymnasium in Changhua, Taiwan. This is the first time India will play in the Women's tournament since 2011.

India roster for 39th William Jones Cup

• Anitha Paul Durai - captain
• Anjana Geetha
• Anmolpreet Kaur
• Barkha Sonkar
• Jeena Scaria
• Kavita Akula
• Navaneetha Udayakumar
• Poojamol Subhashmon
• Rajapriyadarshani Rajaganapathi
• Raspreet Sidhu
• Shireen Limaye
• Poonam Chaturvedi
• Head Coach: Zoran Visic
• Assistant Coach: Shiba Maggon
• Manager: Srinivasa Murthy

Last year, the South Korean team took the gold in the women’s tournament, while Japan and Chinese Taipei A finished second and third respectively.

Participating Teams: New Zealand, India, South Korea, Chinese Taipei Blue, Chinese Taipei White, Japan.

India's schedule at 39th William Jones Cup for Women - all timings IST

• July 5 - New Zealand vs. India - 11:30 AM
• July 6 - Japan vs. India - 11:30 AM
• July 7 - South Korea vs. India - 11:30 AM
• July 8 - India vs. Chinese Taipei Blue - 3:30 PM
• July 9 - Chinese Taipei White vs. India - 1:30 PM

"Our team is very fast, very quick, and they are very good athletes," Visic had told me in an extensive interview for Scroll last week. "So, we can work with this positive and to try as much as possible to cover the ‘negative’ part – our inexperience."

This tournament should serve as important match practice for India as the team gears up for the FIBA Asia Cup, the biggest tournament in Asia which will be hosted by India in Bengaluru this year. India will play in the men's edition of the William Jones Cup, too, which will be held in Chinese Taipei from July 15-23.

The William Jones Cup is a basketball tournament that has been held annually in Chinese Taipei since 1977. The tournament was named in honor of Renato William Jones, who was one of the founders of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). One team represents each country, and that team could be the national team, a professional club, or a college team. The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format, and the final points tally will determine the placing of the teams.