Showing posts with label Dinesh CV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dinesh CV. Show all posts

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Indian Men's Basketball: Dream Team



India has sent several different Men's teams to international competitions over the past year. These have included the South Asian Games at Dhaka in January, the Asian Games at Guanzhou in November, and the Super Kung Sheung Cup at Hong Kong in December. Additionally, a talented bunch of Indian youngsters represented the country at the Junior FIBA Asia Championships at Yemen in September. Of course, many fans got a chance to watch their favourite players in action for their states/clubs at the National Championship that was held at New Delhi in December/January.

Now, with all these different squads, which have included several new omissions, players left out due to injury/behaviour reasons, or other changes, it is hard to decide what would be India's strongest Men's side.

Fear not: what I have decided to compile here is my personal favourite pick of Indian players. If I was India's coach/selector, this is the squad of 12 I would pick to represent the country in International competitions. I have tried to pick a good blend of players with different sizes and abilities that I feel will complement each other. Also, this team should be a good blend of youth and experience - seniors to help lead the squad, players in their prime, and youngsters to provide the right kind of energy and hunger.

My Indian Dream Team

Starting Five
PG: TJ Sahi
SG: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Captain)
SF: Trideep Rai
PF: Jagdeep Singh
C: Yadivinder Singh
Bench
Hareesh Koroth
Dinesh CV
Dishant Shah
Arjun Singh
Amjyot Singh
Sambaji Kadam
Jai Ram Jat


As you may notice, I've picked players like Sahi and Kadam, who are now in exile from the national system, but I feel who are strong enough to still make a difference at the biggest stage.

Here are some players who I would like to give honourable mention to: S. Robinson, Kiran Pal Singh, Prakash Mishra, Eudrick Pereira, Bobby Singh, Sunil Rathee, Ajay Pratap Singh.

Over to you now: if you could pick your Indian Men's Dream Team, what would it be?

Friday, December 10, 2010

Indian Men's team at the Super Kung Sheung Cup in Hong Kong



The Indian Sr. National Men’s team will be amongst seven countries and clubs invited to participate in the 18th 3-D Gold Super Kung Sheung Cup Basketball Tournament for Men, set to be held in Hong Kong from 14th-19th December. A 10-member India squad, accompanied with a coach and a manager, will be heading to Hong Kong on December 11th to compete for this cup.

The Men’s team selected for this tournament is:

Dinesh Coimbatore Venugopal
Dishant Vipul Shah
Prakash Mishra
Kiran Pal Singh
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
Sunil Kumar Rathee
Bobby Singh
Jairam Jat
Yadivinder Singh
Ajay Pratap Singh
Kunal Maria
Coach: Keshav Kumar Chansoria
Manager: PJ Sunny

The participating teams have been divided into two groups. India has been grouped alongside the hosts Hong Kong and the Southern California Fukienese Association (SCFA) from the USA. The teams in the second group are: Xin Cheng Holdings (XCH), GCC Group, Thailand, and Philippines. The matches will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong.

India’s tentative schedule for the group stage of the tournament is:

India vs. Hong Kong on December 14th @ 8:45 PM
India vs. SCFA on December 15th @ 8:45 PM

The top two teams from each group will move on to the Semi-Final round, which will be held on December 18th. The third place teams in each group will play on the 18th in a 5th-6th place classification match. The final will be held on December 19th.

In the previous (17th) edition of the Super Kung Sheung Cup was won by the hosts Hong Kong, who beat Philippines 100-61 in the Final. India finished at 4th place.

The Men's team has recently returned from an unsuccessful but improved performance at the 2010 Asian Games, where they were led by American coach Bill Harris. At Harris' departure, experienced national coach KK Chansoria has taken charge of the squad.

Amongst the players, leading scorer Jagdeep Singh and Trideep Singh are two of the most glaring stars who haven't been able to make this squad due to injury. Hareesh Koroth, and Eudrick Pereria are also missing in this squad. Bobby Singh and Ajay Pratap Singh have been recalled to the Indian squad for this cup.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Prince and Super Girls win inaugural Mastan League


Team Prince and Super Girls won the inaugural Mastan League championship in the Men's and Women's division respectively at the Mastan YMCA in Mumbai. Led by superstar Geethu Anna Jose, Super Girls beat Wonder Girls in the final 80-59. The Men's final was a closer affair, with Prince defeating Soldiers 78-70.

The Mastan League success can potentially be a great boost for the future of basketball in India. Held from May 8-15th, the league was organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and is India's first ever fully professional basketball league. 80 of the top men and 40 of the top women players in India were divided into 12 teams (eight for men, four for women) that played against each other in the league. The players received a fixed match fee, and the total prize money was of 14 lakhs.

The finalists benefited from the sponsors, who decided at the last moment to double the total prize money for the winning team to Rs 1 lakh, and for the runner-up team to Rs 75,000.

Geethu Anna Jose scored 35 points in the final, going against her international compatriots Harjeet Kaur and P. Anitha in the opposing squad. Prince, with stars such as Gangandeep Singh and Mohit Bhandari were able to overcome Soldiers in the men's final.

In the semis, Super Girls had defeated Power Girls 70-60 and Prince had defeated Riders 77-60. Soldiers entered the final by defeating Warriors in a high-scoring match-up, 97-85.

Dinesh CV of Soldiers and Akanksha Singh of Power Girls won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards for the league.

The small Mastan league could be a significant step in the direction of making a NBA/IPL style professional league in India as it helped to provide the players a league-like environment for the week. Many other of the countries top male and female players such as Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Sambhaji Kadam, S. Robinson, Mihir Pandey, Talwinderjit Singh “TJ” Sahi, Trideep Rai, Riyazuddin, Prashanti Singh, and others took part. League organisers also did a good job of dividing the teams as equally as possible, balancing the number of junior players and experienced faces on each squad.

"This is a very good idea to promote basketball in India," said Dishant Shah, a junior player who got the opportunity to play for Team Lions in the tournament, "The tournament has gone well and everyone has got a chance to showcase their skills.

A slam dunk competition and a three-point competition were also held on Friday, May 14th.