INVC,,
Delhi,,
The Indian Sr. Women’s Basketball team, who travelled to the city of Omura in Japan to take part in the 24th FIBA Asia Basketball Championship for Women, will return to India late Monday night after a 1-5 record at the championship and finishing at 6th place for the second consecutive time.
Led by American coach Pete Gaudet, the Indian contingent were placed in the higher, ‘Level I’ of the championship, where they had to face five of Asia’s best women basketball teams. India lost all five of their group games against Chinese Taipei, Korea, China, Japan, and Lebanon. India played a Qualifier for their spot in the Level I in the next championship (in 2013) against Malaysia, which they won 66-60 behind great performances by Anitha Pauldurai, Geethu Anna Jose, and Prashanti Singh.
India’s best player during the course of the championship was Geethu Anna Jose, who finished as the tournament’s third leading scorer (18.7 points per game) and sixth leading rebounder (7.2 rebounds per game).
‘Level II’ of the championship consists of six other ‘lower’ level teams that play each other for the chance at a playoff to qualify for Level I.
The tournament was once again won by the strong team from China, who defeated Korea in a close final, 65-62, on Sunday night.
