FIBA Women's Asia Cup: India trounce Kazakhstan in tournament opener

Nagpur: Pushpa Senthil Kumar fired a game-high 23 points as India rallied to surprise higher-ranked Kazakhstan 85-68 in the FIBA Asia Cup women’s basketball tournament, which began at Shenzhen Sports Center in China on Sunday.Sathya Krishnamurthi and Sreekala Rani too scored baskets from all corners to net identical 15 points. The 79thranked Indian women cagers came from six points down in the first quarter to register a thumping 17-point win over world No. 77 Kazakhstan.The new-look Indian side took time to settle into their groove and lost the first quarter 14-20. An attacking strategy in the second period paid dividends as India outclassed Kazakhstan 25-13 to take a handy six-point lead at the lemon break.After the change of ends, India came up with a dominant display and stretched the advantage further to 22 points by winning the third period 30-14. Though Kazakhstan won the last period 21-16, they failed to trouble India and lost the tournament opener.