FIBA U-16 Women’s Asian Championship: India beat Malaysia to win Division B
October 29, 2017
BENGALURU: In an exciting final day at the FIBA U-16 Women’s Asian Championship on Saturday, India topped Malaysia to become the champions of Division B. The Indian U-16 women’s basketball team has been elevated to Division A after beating Malaysia 64-48 in a thrilling finale.
BFI president K Govindaraj has announced a cash prize of Rs 20,00,000 for the Indian squad.
The Division B final started with a dry stretch for both the teams, three minutes into the game India captain Sanjana Ramesh scored the first point with the help of a free throw. Slowly rest of the team picked up the pace with forward Vaishnavi Yadav’s quick steals and centre Pushpa Senthil Kumar’s impressive finishing under the basket. The first quarter ended with India leading Malaysia 15-3.
The second quarter opened with a deep three-pointer from Vaishnavi and a buzzer beating three from Sanjana. Malaysia came back into the game with two strong back to back fast break baskets with the help of their defence. Malaysia made the game more competitive by reducing the lead to just eight points at the end of the second quarter, in which they outscored India 21-17.
Malaysia opened the second half with seven quick points further cutting the lead to just three points. India then replied with six quick points of their own, initiated by a great defensive play from Vaishnavi Yadav and two great finishes from Monica Jayakumar and Rani Sreekal. A great block from Sanjana and a transition three-pointer from Vaishnavi took the game back to a 13-point India lead. The third quarter ended with India leading with 18 points.
The fourth quarter opened with Vaishnavi getting her sixth steal of the game, and captain Sanjana Ramesh registering two blocks on back to back plays. The lead kept on growing in India’s favour and the game finally ended with a buzzer beater turnaround jump shot from centre Asmat Taunque.
India’s leading scorer through the championship Vaishnavi Yadav showed her experience again by recording amazing stats, she scored 14 points along with 12 rebounds and 7 assists. Guard Neha Karwa had 10 assists, centre Pushpa Senthil Kumar recorded another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Captain Sanjana Ramesh performed her best when it was needed the most with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks.
