India's U-16 basketball team finished fifth to give a perfect end to their exceptional campaign at the FIBA U-16 Asian Championship in Doha.
The Under 16 Indian basketball team had a previous best position of 10th in 2009 and finished fifth in the recently concluded FIBA Asian championship held in Doha, Qatar.
India bounced back from an opening day defeat from Australia with two straight wins against Bahrain and Qatar by a combined 65 points. India then handily defeated Indonesia by 44 points to get to the quarter-finals. India would, unfortunately, lose by a narrow margin to Japan 91-84.
However, the Indian cagers had a chance to still go up to the fifth position, and they did just that with two straight wins against quarter-finalists Iran and Korea.
The team's stars were Kushal Singh, Lokendra Singh, and Jaideep Rathore. Lokendra Singh and Jaideep Rathore led the entire competition in rebounds and assists, respectively, while Kushal Singh was India's leading scorer with an average of 22.6.
Kushal had two 30-point games: one in the dominating group stage win over Qatar and the other in the narrow quarter-finals loss to Japan. In the first [of two] fifth-place matches, India was led in scoring by Harsh Dagar with 25 points, while Lokendra Singh's 29 points and 20 rebounds helped India clinch fifth place against Korea on Sunday.
Following the successful campaign, the President of the Basketball Federation of India [BFI], Dr K Govindaraj, announced a cash prize of Rs. 10,00,000 for the Indian U-16 Men Basketball for their fifth-place finish. He said, "I congratulate the Head Coach, Support Staff, and Players who have put their sincere efforts into making history by advancing to the Quarter-Finals for their best U16 Asian Championship performance ever."
Twitter exploded as well, and several people congratulated the young Indian cagers for their stellar show in Doha. Here's a look at some of the reactions:
