JOIN USWith little hope of success, India will take on Lebanon in a Group C fixture of the FIBA World Cup Asian basketball qualifiers at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Monday.
Lebanon had little trouble brushing India aside when they faced each other in the first window of the qualifiers in November last year. Amritpal Singh featured in the Indian team that lost 72-107 away.
The second window brought with it renewed hope when Amjyot Singh Gill and Amritpal arrived here to participate in the game against Jordan. But they found that their names were not listed on the final roster sent to FIBA as the deadline had passed. The Basketball Federation of India (BFI), unsure of their participation as they had failed to turn-up for the country in the first window, had decided to give chance to the youngsters instead.
The duo watched from the stands as the hosts, led by Satnam Singh Bhamara, put up a valiant fight before going down 88-102 on Friday. On the same day, Lebanon hosted Syria and reaffirmed their status as favourites with an emphatic 87-63 victory.
Amritpal and Amjyot will sit out this fixture as well, making India's task tougher. Assessing the previous game, coach Rajinder Singh pointed out that small mistakes had cost India an all-important win. "We played well against Jordan and could have won the match but our passes were poor and we committed small mistakes," said Rajinder.
Against their fancied opponents, Rajinder is hoping to avoid such errors."We will try not to repeat the mistakes that we committed against Jordan. We can definitely win if we do that," he said. "Lebanon has the height advantage but that shouldn't be a problem for us," the coach added.
Containing Amir Saoud will be a priority for the hosts. Saoud single-handedly took the game away from Syria, starring with 26 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Satnam was one of the standout performers against Jordan. The centre racked up 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Equally impressive was Tamil Nadu's Aravind Annadurai, who shone with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds. The power forward's prowess inside the paint will be a massive boost to the team.
Annadurai, who was part of the team that lost to Lebanon, seemed positive about the team's chances this time around. "We (lost because we) started badly over there. If we start well here we can win this game," said Annadurai.
Point guard Joginder Singh will come in as a replacement for Akilan Pari, who will miss the game due to a personal engagement. Forward Arshpreet Singh Bhullar, who suffered an ankle sprain against Jordan, has recovered fully and will play against Lebanon.
India can still make progress if they win at least two matches and Syria lose all their fixtures.