Defending champions India beat Sri Lanka 93-44 in the finals of 4th South Asian Basketball Championship (SABA) at the Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday.
The win also helped India qualify for the FIBA Asia Championship in China this September.
India has relied all along on its much taller frontline, aggressive man-to-man defence, counter-attacking on the break and effective outside shooting to register 100+ points in three of their earlier four matches. The final game against Sri Lanka was no different.
22-year-old Praneeth Udumalagala and first substitute Thimothi Thineshkanth fought valiantly to keep Sri Lanka’s scoreboard ticking. But with India scoring almost twice as quickly (46-26 at halftime) it was a constantly slippery slope for the islanders.
India had four players in double digits, with Tamil Nadu’s centre Aravind Annadurai top scoring with 22 points, which included one three pointer.
India in fact fielded five debutants this time, who managed to more than fill in for the absence of missing starters Amritpal Singh, Amjyot Singh Gill, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Yadwinder Singh.
The winning team was given a cash prize of Rs 35,000 as a personal gesture of Basketball Federation of India (BFI) President K Govindraj.
(With inputs from PTI)
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