The South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) zone qualifying round of the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 will be held at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here from July 6 to 8.
India, which is the overwhelming favourite to defend the title it won at the same venue last year, will face off against Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives in a round-robin tournament. Sri Lanka and Bhutan, which competed in 2015, are both absent this time around.
Amritpal to leadIndia will be captained by Amritpal Singh, who earlier this year was part of the Tokyo Excellence squad that won the NBDL title in Japan, with the likes of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Yadwinder Singh also in the side.
The winner of the three-day event will qualify for the FIBA Asia Challenge, to be held in Iran from September 9 to 18.
‘Strong team’“We have a very strong team here. If we go through, there is the possibility that Satnam Singh (of the Dallas Mavericks) will join us in Iran. He is willing to play for the country whenever he has the opportunity,” said the president Basketball Federation of India K. Govindaraj.
The FIBA Asia Challenge is also a step in the qualifying process for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (previously known as the FIBA Asia Championship), the inaugural edition of which will see participants from both Asia and Oceania.
The fixtures: July 6: India vs. Nepal, Bangladesh vs. Maldives. July 7: Nepal vs. Bangladesh, Maldives vs. India. July 8: Maldives vs. Nepal, India vs. Bangladesh.
The team: India (from): Amritpal Singh (capt.), Arshpreet Singh Bhullar, Arjun Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Basil Philip, Yadwinder Singh, Rikin Pethani, Aravind Annadurai, Arvind Arumugam, Ravi Bhardwaj, Akilan Pari, and Talwinderjit Singh.
Coaches: P.J. Sebastian and C.V. Sunny.
