FIBA U16 Championship: Indian girls fall to higher ranked Korea in opener

Indian guard Nishanti Masilamani in action against South Korea

New Delhi (2 August 2015)

The Indian U16 Girls basketball team have begun their 2015 FIBA Asia campaign with a tough 52-97 loss to seasoned heavyweights South Korea. Placed in Level 1 with the top Asian teams, the Indian side turned the ball over as many as 30 times to hand their opponents this decisive win.

Korea’s high pressure defence had them racing away to a 30-8 first quarter lead. India’s defense tightened in the second quarter to restrict Korea to 17 points, but Korea still led 47-17. The second half saw an improvement offensively with India tallying close to 20 points in each of the third and fourth quarters.

For India, guard Rutuja Pawar and centre Sushantika Chakravortty hit double digits in scoring, while a balanced Korea moved the ball exceptionally well to tally 28 team assists enabling five players to score 10 points or more. Tamil Nadu forward Srishti Suren showcased her physicality with 12 rebounds, 10 of which came on the defensive end.

India will take on another Asian giant Japan in the next game tomorrow afternoon (1:30 pm IST) and will hope to regroup quickly and put on a superior show.

Result: South Korea (Sohee Lee 18 points, Hyunji Park 10 points and 11 rebounds, Geomjin Jeong 14 points) bt India 97-52 [30-8, 17-9, 25-18, 25-17]

India’s schedule:

Date	Opponent	Time
2/8/15	South Korea	11:30 am
3/8/15	Japan	1:30 pm
4/8/15	China	3:30 pm
5/8/15	Thailand	11:30 am
6/8/15	Chinese Taipei	11:30 am