BENGALURU, Jul 3: The South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Zone Qualifying Round of the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 will be held from July 6 to 8 at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here.
The three-day competition will be played on a round robin league format. Four South Asian teams — defending champions and hosts India, Nepal, Bangladesh and the island nation of Maldives are in the fray.
The detailed announcements regarding this regional competition were made by BFI President K Govindaraj at a press conference held earlier today at the Karnataka Olympic Association building.
“From accommodation to the indoor playing facility, all the arrangements have been made for the players and coaches to ensure a successful conduct of the event. Additionally, entry is free because we want to encourage youngsters to come and watch the matches,” said Govindaraj.
India’s training camp had begun at Kanteerava on June 22 with 30 players, and the final selections were made on June 26.
The experienced Indian charge will be captained by centre Amritpal Singh, returning from winning the National Basketball Developmental League (NBDL) Championship with Toyko Excellence in Japan. Also returning to the Indian team is guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, ONGC veteran forward Yadwinder Singh, high energy point guard Talwinderjit Singh, and aguard Arjun Singh. Other familiar faces are guard Akilan Pari, centre Rikin Pethani (both Income Tax, Chennai), Basil Philip (Central Customs & Excise, Kochi), power forward Arvind Arumugam (Vijaya Bank, Bengaluru) and centre Aravind Annadurai (Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai).
Among senior team debutants are promising outside shooter, the talented young Arshpreet Bhullar (Punjab) and power forward/centre Ravi Bhardwaj (Chandigarh). Both will be hoping for valuable minutes. (PTI)
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