Bengaluru: After a gap of seven long years, India is finally set to host two major international events, with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) allotting the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) the hosting rights of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup and FIBA U-16 Women’s Asia Cup.
The Asia Cup for senior women to be held from July 23-29 will be held in Bengaluru at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium and the Koramangala Indoor Stadium.
The under-16 event which was held in Pune back in 2009, will be held in Telangana from October 22-28. Unlike the regular bidding system, FIBA took into consideration the BFI’s request to hold a major event based on the increase in on-court quality of the Indian national teams over the past two years.
‘Great for Indian basketball’
Speaking about the upcoming tournaments, BFI President K Govindaraj said, “It will be the first time since 2009 that a FIBA Asia Championship will be held in India. After a long gap India is set to host such a big event. It is going to be great for Indian basketbal,” said Govindaraj. “It will help our juniors and women players improve the standard of the game.”
Most of the top teams like Australia, New Zealand, Japan, North and South Korea, China, Malaysia amongst several other will be seen in action. Fourteen teams have confirmed their participation, with two yet to confirm.
“We are grateful as the BDA have paid around Rs 1 crore for the wooden flooring at the Kanteerava Stadium. The FIBA inspection will be held in the first week of March.”
National league on cards
Also in a boost to the game, Govindaraj announced the introduction of a national league from this year. The BFI will conduct a national league for men this year and for women from next year with the winners taking home Rs 15 lakh.
