India head to Finals of MAZ Qualifiers

Basketball: India head to Finals of MAZ Qualifiers after dominating Bangladesh

Once again, there was little competition for India at the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying games at the Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi: after India’s Young Cagers decimated Sri Lanka in a pool game the night before, they went out their business with clinical ruthless to leave Bangladesh in the dust in the Semi-Final of the qualifiers on Thursday winning 120-26. India will play the winner the Nepal-Sri Lanka Semi-Final on Thursday night to determine who they will meet in the Final on Friday.
It was another hot start for India, using stiff defense to turn into fast-break offense. India’s Coach Kenny Natt’s system continued to take shape, which relied on great team defense and unselfish offense, based on good passing guards like Sambhaji Kadam (who finished with 12 assists), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Hareesh Koroth, and Prakash Mishra.
Amrit Pal Singh, the Punjabi young big man, had a breakout performance with a game high 18 points, while Vishesh Bhriguvanshi added 18 as well. But the spark tonight was provided by power forward, who finished the with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and a host of electrifying dunks.
For India, the young Punjabi big men Amrit Pal Singh, Amjyot Singh, and Satnam Singh Bhamara seemed to grow in confidence, too. India led by a mammoth 56 points at the end of the first half and won by 94 when the final buzzer went off. Like Sri Lanka the night before, Bangladesh committed several turnovers and only managed 1 point in the final quarter.
The second semi-final of the night is being held between Nepal, the winners of Group B, versus Sri Lanka, who came second to India in Group A. The winner of this semi-final will play India in the Final on Friday.
In an earlier game on Thursday morning, Nepal and Bangaldesh competed in a thrilling competition that went all the way down to the wire to determine which of the two teams would top Group B. The two teams stayed toe-to-toe the entire game, exchanging the lead and were determined not to let the other get away. With the game tied 56 all halfway into the final quarter, Nepal made the right plays to end the game with a slight edge, winning 64-61. Nepal’s Sadish Pradhan continued his high scoring play, ending with 24 points, and Bipendra Maharajaha added 16. For Bangladesh, Shre Mitun Sarker led with 19 points.

Scores
Nepal (Sadish Pradhan 24, Bipendra Maharajaha 16) bt. Bangladesh (Shre Mitun Sarker 19, Mithun Kumar Biswas 15, Md. Amanat Ali 10) 64-61 (15-16, 14-13, 23-19, 12-13).
India (Amrit Pal Singh 18, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 18, Jagdeep Singh Bains 14, Trideep Rai 14, Eudrick Pereira 12) bt. Bangladesh 120-26 (27-8, 36-9, 23-8, 34-1).
Semi Final: Sri Lanka vs. Nepal in progress.

India’s newly-appointed basketball coach Kenny Natt couldn’t have asked for a better start to his campaign at the helm of the Indian Men’s team: On the first day of the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying matches held at the Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi, India had a dominating first quarter that set the tone for a huge win over the hapless Sri Lanka on Wednesday. A balanced attack led India to a 99-42 win as they topped group A.
India were no match for Sri Lanka from the opening tip. Playing fierce defense as preached by the former NBA coach Natt, India forced their southern rivals to commit several turnovers, which led to easy fast-break points. India were especially lethal from the three-point line, hitting 9-18 shots (an incredible 50 percent) from long range.
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi led all scorers with 16 points, while Jagdeep Singh and Prakash Mishra added 15 each. With the game becoming into a rout early, Coach Natt was able to play his entire 12-man squad, including young Punjabi big men Satnam Singh Bhamara and Amjyot Singh, both of whom had impressive debuts for the Young Cagers.