India under-18 women face an uphill task

They will strive to finish in the top eight and remain in Division-A

There is no hiding the fact that India is the lowest-ranked team, at 52, among the eight countries taking part in Division-A of the FIBA Asian women’s under-18 basketball championship to be held at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here from September 5 to 11.

While the top four teams from here will qualify for the FIBA under-19 World Cup to be held in Madrid, India will hope against hope to finish in the top eight and remain in Division-A.

“The cream of world basketball and not just Asian basketball is here. It will be a big challenge for India. Six teams are too good as they are all world-class teams. Between Taipei and Indonesia, Taipei is stronger. The only way to remain in Division-A is to beat Indonesia,” said Veselin Matic, head coach of the Indian men’s team, after watching the Chinese and Korean teams practise here on Sunday.

According to the Serb, the Indian team has to shrug off the ‘lack of aggression’ mentality if it has to improve.

Arnika Patil, head coach of the Indian women’s team here, knows how uphill is the task ahead. “The players are excited and there is a lot of anxiety as well. We had a camp for 45-60 days here. We didn’t have much exposure due to COVID-19, but we will do our best,” she said.

Anitha Paul Durai, assistant coach and a veteran of nine Asian women’s championships, said the best aspect of the team is that all the 12 players are equally good. “We have two extraordinary players in Sathya Krishnamurthi and Manmeet Kaur,” she said.

The Division-B matches will be played at Koramangala.