Boxscores

INCHEON (FIBA Asia Championship for Women) - India, Level II toppers in the last edition, carried too many guns in their opening encounter to down Singapore.

Divya Singh played within herself controlling the plays appropriate to the occasion as Geethu Anna Jose excelled under the ring. As a matter of fact, Geethu, who eventually top scored, was the lynchpin of India’s plays. There was not a single move that did not involve Geethu, the first Indian player to participate in the Australian Pro league. And luckily for India, there were not many moments when their spearhead failed.

Anitha Pauldurai kept the pressure with her perimeter shooting, with ample help from Divya in this department, as India spread their tentacles of superiority right from the word go.
There were moments of lapse in concentration like Kiranjit struggled to get her lay-up rhythm and when skipper Seema Singh strove to get her defence right. But those instances, fortunately for India, remained an aberration than a rule.

“We were confident of a win, but this big a margin is a pleasant surprise,” said Indian coach Sat Prakash.

“We had come into this tournament with five juniors without much international exposure. I’m very happy for those girls. Wins by big such margins will go a long way in boosting their confidence,” he added.

“We missed qualifying for the Level 1 last time around. I hope the girls can come up with this kind of a performance more consistently. That’ll help us a long way in our qualifying chances,” he said.

Scores
India 111 (Geethu Anna Jose 33, Divya Singh 29, Anitha Pauldurai 12) vs Singapore 32 (Zhou Lei 14, Koh Wei Bin 7). (Quarterwise: 32-12, 53-17, 78-23).

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia