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At the eve of 2019 FIBA Men's Basketball World Cup, the International Basketball Federation honoured the best national federations from around the world in a glittering awards ceremony in Beijing, China, at the Sheraton Grand Beijing Dongcheng Hotel. According to FIBA's website , the ceremony was part of FIBA's XXI Congress. It "recognizes the most successful National Federations across a variety of awards." The usual suspects walked home with the top honours. USA won for top rankings across the board. Other nations were honoured for tangible performances, like top rankings in junior levels, or in 3x3, or for featuring the most active 3x3 players, or for top social media presence, etc. Last on the list of awards, however, was something that felt a little more subjective. The FIBA Presidents Award 2019, awarded to the leader of a National Federation from each continent. "This award," FIBA wrote, was"to recognize the work, commitment and positive imp...

Another day, another bit of great news considering an Indian hoopers looking abroad as a student-athlete. The latest to join the list is Khushi Dongre, a 5-foot-10 combo guard originally from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, who has been signed to play for the ASA College-Miami of the NJCAA (junior NCAA) Division 1. In recent years, the 18-year-old Dongre has played for India at the junior international stage and starred at the NBA Academy India's women's programme. "Over the last couple of months of getting to know Khushi, she is always happy and so grateful for the opportunity to come here and play basketball in the USA," said Kevin Johnson, the head coach of ASA College-Miami Silverstorm team. "The meaning of her name means happiness and she definitely exemplifies happiness in her personality." Dongre was most recently a part of India's U18 3x3 team that took part in the FIBA U18 Asia 3x3 Championship in Malaysia. Her contributions helped India make an im...

Since he was 16, Hyderabad boy Aashay Verma has been a step ahead of the basketball competition, charting his own path, and often, creating a new one. After starring in the NBA's Global Academy in Australia and numerous international basketball camps, the 7-foot-2, 20-year-old Center has now taken the next big step: Earlier this month, he joined the Butte-Glenn Community College in Oroville, California. After being first spotted in the ACG-NBA Jump programme at age 16, Verma ended up being recruited to the NBA's Global Academy in Canberra, Australia, where he became a regular part of the Academy's team. Over the past few years, he has taken part in the NBA All Star Weekend's Basketball Without Borders camp and attended the NBA's Global Camp in Italy. In 2018 and 2019, he was invited to the NCAA Next Generation Showcase in San Antonio and Minnesota respectively. According to the NBA Academy, Verma is now working on earning an NCAA scholarship. Verma will join the B...

Last week, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) conducted the 2019 FIBA 3x3 National Championship in Bengaluru, pitting together some of the nation's top 3x3 basketball squads in both men and women's categories in an event that also served as the FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 Qualifiers. The event was held in the outdoor courts of Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium from August 22-24 featuring 17 men's and 12 women's squads. At the finals on Saturday, August 24, Kochi Stars (Women) and Punjab Steelers (Men) triumphed to win the gold and secure their appearance in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Quest 2019 Finals. Kochi Stars featured former international and Arjuna Awardee Geethu Anna Rahul - recently unretired - along with Smruthi Radhakrishnan, Surya, and Sonumol Soman. They defeated Maratha Yodhas in the women's final, 21-13. In the men's final, Punjab Steelers defeated hosted Bengaluru Bulls. The star-studded Punjab squad featured some of India's top current player...

The 5th edition of FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup was held at the Gem-In Mall in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, from August 22-24. On the final day on Saturday, Japan's Men and Australia's Women emerged as the best of the best to claim the gold. India also participated: India's women's team made the Quarter-Finals and finished at an encouraging 7th place; India's Men fell in the Qualifying Round to finish 13th. Japan were dominant throughout the tournament, and finished with an easy win in the Men's final, 21-13. In the women's category, Australia had a perfect 5-0 record and dominated Japan in the final with a decisive 21-10 victory. Japan's Seishin Yokochi was named Men's MVP after a game-high 9 points in the final. The women's MVP was Australia's Shyla Heal , who hit a game-high 8 points in the final. Philippines won the women's bronze medal with a 14-11 win over China. The men's bronze went to China, who beat Australia 21-17. India fielded a ta...

Om Prakash Sr. , who represented Team India and Services in the 70s/80s, is today's induction into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . Photo courtesy: punjabbasketball.org In 1979, he received one of the highest civil honours in the nation for sport, the Arjuna Award. Click here for more of the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Usually, India's best 'club' team gets an opportunity to play in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the tournament's biggest international club basketball tournament, bringing together the champions from every country. This time, however, FIBA changed the format to include qualifying rounds to determine the 'final 8' for the FIBA Asia CC. India's Federation Cup champions - Punjab Police - represented the nation in the East Asia qualifiers this week in Bangkok. But a losing record saw them fall outside the top-2 qualifying spots and return home unfulfilled. From August 13-15, Punjab Police took part in the 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup East Asia Qualifiers in Thailand, alongside SAFSA (Singapore), HiTech Bangkok City (Thailand), and Fubon Braves (Chinese Taipei). The teams played three round-robin games each, and the top two were chosen for the final-8 of the tournament. Host team HiTech Bangkok City and Fubon Braves assured their place in the FIBA Asia CC after w...

It was the second basketball trip this year for the Indian Bank side to Coimbatore. And for the second time, the journey ended with victory. After securing the 54th Nachimuthu Gounder Cup in Coimbatore earlier this year, Indian Bank (Chennai) returned to the city in Tamil Nadu and bagged first place in the 2019 PSG Trophy on Tuesday, August 13 at the PSG Sports Club. The prestigious invitational basketball tournament was held between eight teams from around the country from August 9-13, 2019. Indian Bank secured the title win a 79-61 victory over Indian Army (Delhi) in the final on Tuesday. Hari Ram of Indian Bank scored 29 points to lead his squad to the win. KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) defeated Indian Air Force (Delhi) 76-73 and secured third place, led by Jishnu G Nair 19. Ajay Hooda scored 19 for Air Force in the loss. Eight teams took part in this five-day event: Indian Bank (Chennai), Indian Army (Delhi), Indian Air Force (Delhi), KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram), RCF (Kapurthala), India...

64 best young basketball prospects - boys and girls - from around Asia and Oceania will attend the 2019 Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp , set to be held in Tokyo, Japan, from August 14-17. Organised together by FIBA and the NBA, the camp will feature several current/former NBA/WNBA players and coaches. Four Indian players have been invited to this edition of the camp: Siya Deodhar (Nagpur), Amaan Sandhu (Mohali), Harsimran Kaur (Jalandhar) and Arvinder Singh (Barnala). This is the second invited for Deodhar and Sandhu for the BWB Asia Camp, after last year's event that was held in home grounds in Greater Noida's NBA Academy India. NBA/WNBA players/coaches leading this camp will include: Sam Cassell, Kevon Looney (Golden State Warriors), Robin Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks) Yuta Tabuse (formerly of the Phoenix Suns; Japan), Ashley Battle, Allison Feaster, Yolanda Moore, Pat Delany (Orlando Magic), Bryan Gates (Minnesota Timberwolves), Antonio Lang (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Wes Un...

The 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup is a tournament that will involve the top club sides from all around the continent. From India, the competitor is determined by the previous winner of the Federation Cup, which was Punjab Police . But before the squad can step out for the main tournament and be a part of the 'Final 8', they will have to win the East Asia qualifying round in Bangkok, set to be held from August 13-15. Punjab Police will take part in this qualifying round alongside SAFSA (Singapore), HiTech Bangkok City (Thailand), and Fubon Braves (Chinese Taipei). The teams will play in single-round robin format from August 13-15. The top two teams will claim their tickets to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2019 to join complete the cast of 8 elite professional basketball clubs in Asia. Punjab Police Roster Arshpreet Singh Bhullar Rajvir Singh Sukhdeep Pal Singh Dhillon Varinder Singh Atwal Rishab Jangra Harwinder Preet Singh Nitish Kumar Sharma Ranbir Singh Virdi Taranpreet Singh ...

Two teams from the USA - Central (Girls) and West (Boys) won the 2019 Jr. NBA Global Championship on Sunday, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. This was the second edition of this event, which featured top 13-14 year-old teams from the USA and around the world, including India. For the second year in a row, both the winners were American; for Central (Girls), it was a second consecutive title. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, three-time NBA Champion and Jr. NBA Global Championship Ambassador Dwyane Wade and New Orleans Pelicans Vice President of Basketball Operations/Team Development and former WNBA All-Star Swin Cash presented the winning teams with trophies in postgame ceremonies. The global youth basketball tournament took place from August 6-11 and featured 32 boys and girls teams from around the world. Overall, 15,000 players from 75 countries participated across Jr. NBA Global Championship regional competitions. The Central girls team, from Kan...

The top player in Indian Basketball - Amjyot Singh - joins Hoopdarshan in Episode 82 to discuss his suspension from India's national team, his experiences playing in the NBA G-League, taking part in the 3x3BL in Punjab this season, and rating Gurudwara langar food. In addition, co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok catch up on all the happenings from the Indian basketball universe. Amjyot Singh is one of the most accomplished Indian basketball players. Hailing from Chandigarh, he has played for and captained India's national team in several important tournaments. He has played professionally in the NBA's G-League for the OKC Blue and the Wisconsin Herd, as well as the D-League and BJ Summer League in Japan. Singh is one of the nation's top 3x3 players as well, starring in numerous international events for his clubs. Hoopdarshan is the truest voice of Indian basketball , and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything ...

Photo courtesy: Man's World India One of the first Indians to play pro basketball abroad, an Indian international star, and a hero of Mumbai's most iconic court, Shahid Qureshi is today's entrant into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . Hailing from Mumbai, Qureshi honed his game at the famed basketball courts in Nagpada and Mastan. A dominant power-forward, Qureshi was strong on both ends of the floor. He is widely recognised as the first Indian to play professionally abroad, after he was handed a contract to play in Sweden for the club Akropol in 1994. It was here that he picked up the nickname 'Djor', or the Bull, for his forceful style of play. Qureshi played two seasons in Sweden, including pro 3x3 basketball as well. He briefly played pro in Singapore, too. Qureshi last represented India's national team in 1998, and was the last player from Nagpada to don the Indian colours. He worked for Tata Steel and has now permanently moved to the US. Cl...

I have been a basketball journalist in India for nearly a decade, with most of the work coming in the form of research, typing out the written word, and more recently, speaking about the game with interviews on the Hoopdarshan podcast. But over the past weekend, I was able to check a box that I hadn't ever considered to even dream of: in-game commentary! The second season of India's FIBA 3x3 basketball league, the 3x3BL , tipped off at the Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar on Friday, August 2. The new season of the league featured 12 men's teams divided into two conferences, and, for the first time, six teams for women in their own conference. I was honoured with an invite to commentate on the first two days of the event, during the live streaming broadcast of all of the round-1 men's matches for 3BL's Facebook and YouTube pages. It was a confusing, strange, educational, and ultimately, a fun experience. Although I have had experience talking about ...

In Episode 81 of Hoopdarshan , actor, producer and NBA anchor Harman Singha joins us to talk about his latest brainchild: Mumbai's 3x3 Street Ball League. In a conversation with co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok , Singha discusses the conception of the league with celebrity co-owners, playing 1v1 against his brother Rannvijay Singha, his background loving the NBA, and the best food to eat in Jalandhar. Harman Singha is an Indian actor, writer, and producer, famous for the web series A.I.SHA and for NBA India coverage on Sony SIX. Harman is one of the co-founders of the Street Ball League in Mumbai, for which they've brought together several celebrities from the city to invest in teams in their league including Esha Gupta, Melvin Louis, Sara Khan, Gursimran Khamba, and more. Hoopdarshan is the truest voice of Indian basketball , and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to inter...