India meet holders Japan in opener

NAGPUR: Almost a month after the senior Indian team scripted history in Bangkok, the national U-16 girls' squad will look to upset the applecart of Asian giants in the 3rd Fiba Asia Basketball Championship. The battle to earn the rights of Asia's best youth team will begin at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from Saturday.
In its first biggest test at the international level, this enthusiastic bunch of Indian youngsters would hope to follow some notable footsteps when they open their campaign against defending champions Japan on Saturday.
With an average height of 172 cms, the 12-member Indian team - all of whom who are representing India for the first time - consists of seven forwards, three centre and two point guards.
For head coach, TD Biju - the biggest unsung hero in Indian women's basketball right now - his first opportunity as a national coach brings with him a challenge that he has always loved while representing Kerala in the nationals. The performance that Biju displayed in various national championships gave him this deserving India cap and he wants to make a difference in Colombo. "We have worked hard for this championship and are a well gelled unit. I hope that the team will play at its best and bring laurels to country much like the senior national team did recently at Bangkok," Biju told TOI from Colombo.
Biju along with coach Abhay Chavan will be leading the contingent under the guidance of senior women coach Francisco Garcia.
Chavan, who is based in Satara, Maharashtra, too sounded confident with the preparation. "The team has undergone a vigorous training under the guidance of foreign coach Francisco Garcia for over two months. All our players are in good shape and during our exposure trip in China they have shown tremendous improvement on the court. We have worked on our team strategy with impetus on defence," Chavan said.
Based on their 5th place finish in the previous edition at Jihan, China, in 2011, the Indian girls - ranked 35th in the world - are placed in Level I alongside 2009 champions China, Korea, holders Japan, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei.
After the opening game against Japan on Saturday, India take on China on November 24 and if one goes by the past performance Indian campaign starts with a game against Malaysia on November 25 followed by games against Chinese Taipei and Korea in the preliminary round.
The top three nations after the tournament will qualify for the 2014 FIBA U-17 World Championship in Bratislava, Slovak Republic from July 10-20, 2014.
The Team
Mugdha Amraotkar (Maharashtra), Vandana Arya, Riya Verma (both Chhattisgarh), Vimmy Varkey, PV Aneeta, HT Mayukha (all Kerala), HM Bhandavya, Lopamudra Thimmaiah (both Karnataka), Gagandeep Kaur (Punjab), Sakshi Pandey (Madhya Pradesh), V Srividhya and MG Shinu (both Tamil Nadu).
Head Coach: TD Biju (Kerala), Coach: Abhay Chavan (Maharashtra), Manager: J M Sharma, (Madhya Pradesh).