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On October 4-5, the basketball story in India will take a massive leap with the historic, first-ever NBA India Games: two preaseason matches between the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings in Mumbai. Hoopdarshan is here to break it all down: Co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok welcome NBA India's Content Producer Yash Matange to talk about the lead-up to this event, the two participating teams, off-court events, all the India/Hindi connections, and much more. Matange writes and edits content for NBA India and made his second Hoopdarshan appearance. In this episode, we also spoke briefly about India at the FIBA Asia Women's Cup. 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 international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With exp...

Indian basketball has been blessed with several queens over its history, leaders who have broken the gender barrier in the game to excel, and help a generation of players after them excel, too. One of these leaders is Prasanna Jayasanakar , the legendary player and coach from Kerala and Southern Railways, who is today's addition into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . As the story goes, Prasanna was originally drafted to play badminton at the Sports School in Kannur, Kerala, but because there was a shortage of players in the basketball team, she switched sports. Soon, her career took off. She started playing for Kerala in 1982 with the sub-junior and junior nationals, and was in the state's senior team from 1983 onwards, while she was still a teenager. From 1985 to 1996, she played for the powerhouse Southern Railway team in Chennai, a relationship that sealed her post-playing future, too. Prasanna played for India's senior women's team from 1984-1996, and...

On the eve of the 2019 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Bengaluru, India's star player Jeena Skaria joins us on Hoopdarshan . In an interview with co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok , Skaria tells us about India's strategy in the tougher Division A of the tournament, the top players to watch out for, and playing pro in Australia - an experience that changed her life both on and off the court. Jeena Skaria is one of the most talented and accomplished basketball players in India today. The Kerala native has graduated from being a teenage phenom to the best player in the women's national team. She was one of the top performers of the squad that won Division B of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup two years ago. Since then, she has seen a rare dream come true, becoming only the third Indian women to play pro overseas - in Australia for the Ringwood Hawks. Now, Skaria is back to India's national team, and the team is back in Division A, for the tournament in Bengaluru. In ...

After winning Division B in dramatic fashion in 2017, Team India will return upgraded in Division A of the 2019 FIBA Women's Asia Cup. The tournament is being held once again in familiar surroundings for Team India, at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru from September 24-29, 2019. The 2017 champions Japan will return with hopes of completing an incredible four-peat of this tournament. Among the other favourites in this event are Australia, China, and Korea. Grouping for Division A Group A: Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, India . Group B: Australia, China, New Zealand, Philippines. India's Roster Rajapriyadarshini Rajaganapathi (captain) Anmolpreet Kaur Shireen Limaye Barkha Sonkar Navaneetha Pattemane Udayakumar Anjana Prasannan Geetha Stephy Nixon Bhandavya Hemmige Mahesha Shruthi Arvind Madhu Kumari Jeena Skaria Lopamudra Thimmaiah Kokkalera Head Coach: Zoran Visic Assistant Coach: Shiba Maggon Assistant Coach: Kuldeep Singh Brar India's Preliminary Stage Sched...

From dominating on the basketball court to substituting into a career in politics, Sajjan Singh Cheema has always been used to the public eye, especially in his home-state of Punjab. Now, the former star adds a new accolade into his book: the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . Cheema was born in the Dabulian village in Punjab in 1957, in the Kapurthala district which has been one of the hotbeds of Indian basketball since the introduction of the game. He studied in the Sports College in Jalandhar, and it was only at age 19 that he began to turn towards basketball, with an inter-university tournament in Jaipur. Cheema quickly became a dominant player in the state, and eventually broke into the national team. He played for India in the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship teams in 1981, 1983, and 1985, and represented the country in the Asian Games in 1982. In 1983, he was honoured with the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award. He retired from the game in 1994, and in 1999, he joined a sel...

Another member of India's historic basketball team of 1980, the first and only to play in the Summer Olympics in Moscow, has been added to the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame : Parvez Irani . From Cuttack in Odisha, the 5-10 guard Irani went on to become an important player for Team India in the 70s and 80s. He appeared in all seven of India's matches at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and averaged 3.4 points per contest. After retiring from the game in the mid-80s, Irani served the Sports Authority of India (SAI) as a coach for thirty years, from where he finally retired in 2017. Irani's son Xerxes has found fame in his own right as a star for the TV show "Roadies". Irani also has the claim for being one of the rare players of Zoroastrian background to represent Team India. Click here for more of the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) on Wednesday, September 11 named Rajesh Sethi, an accomplished media and technology executive with more than 20 years of experience in leading and managing global brands, as Managing Director of NBA India . Sethi, who begins with the NBA on Sept. 12, will report to NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. Sethi succeeds Yannick Colaco as NBA India's MD, who stepped down from his position in March . As MD, Sethi will oversee the league's basketball and business development initiatives in India and will be supported by the region's senior leadership team. Most recently, Sethi was with the Essel Group, a leading business conglomerate in India, where he held various leadership roles with the group's entities, including SITI Networks, Zee Entertainment and Ten Sports. Since 2017, he has been the Chief Business Transformation Officer of SITI Networks, one of India's leading cable television systems operator...

Sometimes the best thing about basketball is watching a dominant force unleash its dominance, over and over again, executing the game to its most beautiful conclusion. At other times, the joy of the game is in the underdog stories, of surprises, of being witness to a 'Cinderella' run to the title, in David defeating Goliath. Both these instances were on showcase over the past week at the 46th Sub Junior (U14) National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls , held in Cuttack (Odisha) from September 3-9 . Organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Odisha Basketball Association, the Sub-Junior Nationals featured participation from 24 boys' and 25 girls' teams from around India. At the finals on Monday, Mizoram (Boys) became the 'Cinderella' story, winning the gold, while Tamil Nadu (Girls) captured the top spot after last year's runners-up finish. The championship was held in Cuttack's Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium and the Indoor...

Wherever he suited up, success followed close behind. An Olympian, a national team star, an Arjuna Awardee, and a scoring machine, Rajasthan's late, legendary baller Radhey Shyam has been inducted into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . Originally from the village of Sri Madhopur in Rajasthan, Shyam went on to become a star for Services and an important player for India's national team in the 1970s. The 6-4 forward found his career highlight when he was named into Team India for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, India's only basketball appearance in the Olympic stage. Shyam was one of the best players in the team, averaging 15.3 ppg in seven games for India in Moscow, which was second-highest for Team India and 19th in scoring overall at the tournament. The overmatched Indian side lost all their contests, but Shyam finished the group stage with a flourish, tallying 32 points in a loss to Brazil. Shyam also played for India at the 1982 Asian Games, held on his adopted...

Satnam Singh is, arguably, figuratively and literally, the biggest name in Indian basketball. Raised in a nondescript village in Punjab, the young man grew to be a 7-footed beast with tantalising basketball potential, won a scholarship in one of the world's finest sports academies, and eventually, made history by becoming the first Indian to be drafted in the NBA, the world's finest basketball league. Although he never played for the NBA, Satnam played pro in the G-League and in Canada, and the 24-year-old continues to represent the Indian national team. His incredible story, right up to the point of the night he was drafted, was documented by Roman Gackowski's memorable Netflix documentary One in a Billion in 2016. Now, for the first time, Satnam's journey will be told in fictionalised motion picture, the first-ever basketball biopic in India. Production company Zee Studios recently announced that they will produce an original digital film based on the inspirational...

Less than two weeks after wrapping up victories at the 3x3 National Championship in Bengaluru , the two top teams from India - Punjab Steelers (Men) and Kochi Stars (Women) - now land in Male, Maldives, to take on the top 3x3 sides in the continent. The 2019 FIBA Asia 3x3 Quest Final will be held in Male from September 6-8, and the Indian sides will have an opportunity to qualify for the world 3x3 championship next month if they triumph in this event. A number of star Indian players, including Amjyot Singh, Amritpal Singh, Geethu Anna Rahul, and more are at this event. Both the Steelers and the Star are seeded at 7th place in their respective groups. Rosters Punjab Steelers: Amjyot Singh, Amritpal Singh, Arshpreet Singh Bhullar, Rajvir Singh Aujla. Kochi Stars: Geethu Anna Rahul, Smruthi Radhakrishnan, Surya PR, Sonumol Soman. India's Groups - sourced via NBA India. Men: Punjab Steelers (India) , Taipei Bears (Chinese Taipei), Arkhangai (Mongolia), Askar (Brunei). Women: Koch...

The youngest national basketball event in Indian basketball will continue its decades-long journey tomorrow. The 46th Sub Junior (U14) National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls will be held in Cuttack (Odisha) from September 3-9, 2019. The championship will be held in Cuttack's Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium and the Indoor Complex in Barabati. It will feature participation from 24 boys' and 25 girls' teams from around India. The event is being organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Odisha Basketball Association. Last year's defending champions from Kangra - Uttar Pradesh (Boys) and Maharashtra (Girls) will start this year's tournament among the favourites. Participating Teams Women Group A: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Harayana, Punjab, Kerala Group B: Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi Group C: Gujarat, Jharkhand, Manipur Group D: Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Odisha Group E: Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Puducherry, W...

Among the first women to be a FIBA-certified referee from India, Snehel Bendke is now one of the greatest refs the nation has ever produced, whistling away all the way to the Olympics. For her efforts, the former player from Maharashtra has been inducted into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame . Hailing from Kohlapur in Maharashtra, Bendke was a rising player for her state, playing in nationals at the junior and senior levels. However, at the advice of a coach, she decided to follow the path of refereeing at the early age of 22. Bendke and fellow Hoopistani Hall of Famer Shiba Maggon soon became the first Indian woman to receive FIBA referee certification. In the decade that has since passed as an international referee, Bendke has officiated matches in important events like the 2012 Olympic Games in London (the first and only Indian to do so), the first Indian woman to officiate in a Men's FIBA Asia Championship, the Women's World Basketball Championship, and nume...