India beat Nepal 90-44; Complete historic five-peat of SABA Championships

  • India successfully defended their title and completed a historic five-peat as they beat Nepal 90-44. With this win, India ensured they were unbeaten (4-0) in the tournament.
  • Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was declared the ‘Player of the game’.
  • India have now qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup taking place in Lebanon from 8th-20th Augustthis year.
  • India has also ensured qualification for its top club team in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup – a tournament where the premier club teams of Asian countries go head to head.

Male/Bengaluru, 23nd May 2017: In the 5th South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Championship underway in Maldives, India beat Nepal 90-44 to go unbeaten in the tournament and complete a historic five-peat of SABA championships.

India beat Nepal 90-44

Team India are all smiles after completing a five-peat of SABA Championships

Playing its fourth and final round robin encounter, defending champs India dominated Nepal 90-44 and earned yet another victory. India made the most of its size advantage against a smaller Nepal team and scored majority of its points in the paint while opening a 19-point lead in the very first quarter.

India’s veteran shooting guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi continued his scoring spree as he tallied 22 points in the encounter. Shooting guard Anil Kumar BK also chipped in with 16 points off the bench. The second half of the game saw young players Jeevanatham Pandi, Muin Bek and Vishal Kumar Gupta get some valuable playing time. Pandi made the most of this opportunity by using his size to grab offensive rebounds and score 12 points for the team.

For Nepal, Ashim Shrestha was the leading scorer with 9 points as Nepal’s shooters struggled against India’s zone defence.

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was declared player of the match.

India has now ensured qualification for itself and its top club team, in the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon from 8-20 August, and the FIBA Asia Champions Cup respectively.

India (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 22, Anil Kumar BK 16) bt Nepal (Ashim Shrestha 9) 90-44 [25-06, 20-07, 26-13, 19-18]

 

About the SABA Championship 2017

Championship Format

The Championship is played in a round robin format and the team with the best record at the end of this championship will progress from the South Asian region to the FIBA Asia Cup scheduled for 17th to 27th August in Beirut, Lebanon. A round robin format is when each team will face every other team in the tournament once, and the final standings will be based on win/loss statistics.

 

INDIAN SQUAD FOR THE 5thSABA CHAMPIONSHIP 2017

Jersey
Number		 Family Name/
Last Name		 Given Name/
First Name		 Place of Birth Date of Birth (dd/mm/yy) Height Position
5 Pari Akilan (c) Chennai Tamil Nadu 20/07/1989 180 (5’10.8”) PG
4 Hafeez Muin Bek Dharmapuri Tamil Nadu 16/03/1996 190
(6’2”)		 F
6 Sivakumar Prasanna Venkatesh Gobichettipalayam Tamil Nadu 25/09/1992 186
(6’1”)		 F
7 Bukankere Krishne Gowda Anil Kumar Mandya Karnataka 31/07/1989 185
(6’)		 F
8 Singh Arjun Varanasi Uttar Pradesh 8/6/1992 189
(6’2”)		 SG
9 Bhriguvanshi Vishesh Varanasi Uttar Pradesh 13/09/1991 195
(6’4.5”)		 SG
10   Amritpal Singh Ganna Pind Punjab 05/01/1991 207
(6’9.5”)		 C
11 Gupta Vishal Kumar Chapar Village Delhi 07/12/1999 198
(6’5”)		 C
12 Bhardwaj Ravi Chandigarh Chandigarh

 

 31/10/1992 207
(6’9.5”)		 C
13 Pandi Jeevanatham Virudhunagar Tamil Nadu 13/10/1994 204
(6’7”)		 C
14   Yadwinder Singh Rasulpur Khurd Punjab 30/12/1986 198
(6’6”)		 PF
15 Pethani Rikin Sajiavadar Amreli Gujarat

 

 02/12/1990 203
(6’8”)		 PF/C

*PG – Point Guard / Feeder, G – Guard, F – Forward, G/F – Wing, PF – Power Forward, C – Centre, PF/C – Post

Coaches: Sappaniambalam Baskar (Head Coach) and Sebastian Padipurakkal Joseph (Assistant Coach)

Manager: Sushil Kumar

Physiotherapist: Raj Kumar Dubey

FIBA Referee: Ceciline Michael Vino Vincent Francis Victor  


Previous Editions / Winners:

2016:  Bengaluru — 1st India, 2nd Bangladesh

2015:  Bengaluru — 1st India, 2nd Sri Lanka

2014:  Kathmandu — 1st India 2nd Bangladesh

2013 (June): Delhi — 1st India, 2nd Afghanistan. (From this edition onwards, the tournament changed from a standalone event to a qualifying Championship to the Asian level)

2013 (Jan):  Dhaka — 1st Bangladesh, 2nd Pakistan (India, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka did not participate)

2012:  Assam — 1st India, 2nd Bangladesh