India thrash Sri Lanka to script history at FIBA U-16 Asian Championship 2023

The young hoopsters will next face hosts Qatar in the pre-quarterfinals.

Indian Basketball team once again showed their supremacy, speed and power on the court in a clash between two South-Asian Countries. After their close win over Lebanon, India thrashed Sri Lanka by a massive 73 points (112-39) to once again script history in the FIBA U-16 Asian Championship 2023. The clash saw India score its most points in a match in their history in the competition.

This is also India’s largest margin of victory (by points) in the FIBA U-16 Asian Championship and their third win over Sri Lanka within a month. They also won their previous two encounters against Sri Lanka in SABA qualifiers which was a qualification event for FIBA U-16 Asian Championship 2023.

India started as the outright favourites but couldn’t take Sri Lanka lightly with the Island nation nearly handing India a scare in the Saba Qualifier final. Kailash Bishnoi opened the account for India with 2-pointer jump shot. India completely dominated the first quarter and gave Sri Lanka little chance of finding the basket.

Their dominance meant India gained a massive lead of 29 points at the end of 1st quarter while Sri Lanka managed only four (33-4).

India’s dominance extended to the second quarter also despite head coach Ram Kumar substituting two players at the start of second quarter. He took out captain Lavish and Adavan Chellam while Ankush and Aryan were sent in. Sri Lanka’s struggle continued in the second quarter, but they were seeing better in this quarter as they took a total of 17 points, with one three-pointer in the final minute. Indian, on the other hand, took a whopping 35 points to extend their lead to 47 points (68-21).

In an effort to turn things around, Sri Lanka made a Substitution at the start of the third quarter, with Bilal Shafraz replaced by Anthony Bernard. India showed their defensive techniques in this quarter as the Blue Hoopsters blocked shots, made turnover and stopped multiple attacks from their counterparts.

India increased their lead to 62 points, while Sri Lanka could only amass 10 points after some easy misses.

The Indian team crossed the magical mark of 100 points in fourth quarter when Ankush Sharma made a three-pointer pullup jump shot. As the error-prone Sri Lanka kept committing mistakes and fouls, India were awarded several free throws and they made great use of it to increase their lead to 73 points. Sri Lanka could only score eight points, their lowest quarter points in this match. India eventually emerged victorious and scripted history in the process.

For India, the top performers were Ankush Sharma with 27 points, three 3-pointers, Tajinderbir Singh with six steals and Jagmeet Singh with five Blocks. Mirthun Dhanasekar also scored 17 points. Vishwa Herath was the top performer for Sri Lanka with eleven two pointers to score a total of 22 points.

Indian hoopsters will next play against hosts Qatar in the pre-quarterfinals on September 21 for a place in the last eight stage for a second consecutive edition in the FIBA U-16 Asian Championship.