New Delhi (2 August 2015): In a spectacular day of basketball, the Indian senior men’s team has been crowned champions in the 3x3 South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Qualifiers 2015 a short while ago at Gateway College in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Facing familiar opponents Colombo Sri Lanka Reds in the finals, whom they had lost to yesterday in the league stages, India showed great heart and courage to dominate the Islanders at home 21-10.

The day began with India dominating Nepal 20-10 in a must win last league match to qualify to the semifinals as the second seeded team. In the semis, India continued its strong form to beat Sri Lanka Blacks 18-10, before powering through to a 21-10 finals victory.

An excited Siddhant Shinde said after the gold medal finish, “We did it for the 1.24 billion people of India. We hope this inspires the youth of the nation to take up basketball.” As South Asia winners, the four man squad comprising Shinde, Basil Philip, Rajesh Uppar and Jeevanantham Pandi, has now qualified for the 3x3 World Tour which will be held on 15^th and 16^thAugust 2015 in Beijing, China.

The Indian senior men’s basketball team participated in the 3x3 South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Qualifiers 2015 in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 1^st and 2^nd August 2015. The four member team comprised Basil Philip (Kerala), Rajesh Uppar (Karnataka), Siddhant Shinde (Maharashtra) and Jeevanantham Pandi (Tamil Nadu) flew out of Bengaluru to Colombo on 31^st July morning, and will return to Bengaluru on 3^rd August 2015. 

India had not participated in the inaugural 3x3 SABA Championship back in 2014, which was eventually won by hosts Bangladesh.

Basil Philip has made it to the Indian team for the second time, after representing the national side during the 2013 SABA 5x5 Championship in New Delhi. The remaining three, Uppar, Shinde and Jeevanantham are all first timers in the senior side. "3x3 is a fast paced game in which Indian players have a chance to compete against the top countries in the world as we develop the 5x5 version of the sport. This is a great opportunity for these players and if they compete hard and win, they';ll have the opportunity to play in China for even more and greater exposure." said Mr. Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General of the BFI.

Elaborating further, BFI President K Govindaraj said, "We wanted to give these four players, who worked extremely hard during the coaching camp prior to SABA, the chance to obtain valuable international experience. They didn';t make the SABA 5x5 team but all four are young, talented and extremely hard working. They will certainly be part of future Indian teams and this will be valuable exposure for all of them."

*C= Centre, PF= Power Forward, SF= Small Forward, SG= Shooting Guard, PG= Point Guard

The Basketball Federation of India or BFI is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India, and is responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. BFI has been involved in conducting camps, clinics, events, and training sessions at its academies for the development of basketball. BFI came into being in 1935 and took complete control over Indian basketball in 1950. Prior to that time, the Indian Olympic Association handled the conduct of Indian basketball championships. Since 1950, the BFI has been conducting various such championships, from the grassroots to senior team participation in international tournaments. In addition, the BFI has been responsible for the establishment of strong sub-junior and junior level programs. The BFI has to its credit produced several international players of repute, among them 17 have been bestowed with the honour of Arjuna Awards. Earlier in June 2015, 19-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamara made history by becoming the first Indian national to be drafted by an NBA team, when he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks. More information at www.basketballfederationindia.org