India readies for Asia U-18 basketball championship
The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) announced its contingent for the 22nd FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship for men to be held in Mongolia August 17-26. The team coached by Jai Prakash Singh will comprise of Akash Bhasin, Khusmeet Singh Atwal, Karthickeyan Saminathan, Sreerag Narayanan Nair, Loveneet Singh, Amit Kanarjee, Narender, Shyam Sunder, Karan Harold Joshua, Rakesh, Ajay Pratap Singh, Palpreet Singh Brar.
Pawan Kumar will be the assistant coach. The team has been preparing for the championship at the national coaching camp held from on August 1 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here. Sixteen teams that will be participate are: Group A: China, Hong Kong, Lebanon and India; Group B: Korea, Japan, Singapore and Syria; Group C: Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Bahrain and Mongolia; Group D: Iran, Kazakhstan, Philippines and Saudi Arabia.
This tournament is the qualifying event for the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship to be played in the Czech Republic. The top three teams will represent Asia. This is the first time Mongolia is hosting an International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia event with the host nation making its debut.