The Hindu : India, Uzbekistan too hot to handle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 11, 2003

Sport

Sport - Basketball

India, Uzbekistan too hot to handle

By Rakesh Rao

Sergey Demurin of Uzbekistan finds the basket in the match against Sri Lanka in the Middle Asia Zone qualifying basketball championship at the Talkatora Indoor stadium in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NEW DELHI JULY 10. Going through the motions against some very pedestrian opposition, India and Uzbekistan enjoyed another day of `target-practice' ahead of their Saturday's key encounter.

Since these two teams are just too good for the remaining three, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, there has been very little quality on view so far in the Middle Asia zone qualifying championship for the Asia Basketball Championship at the NDMC Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.

On this day, India displayed better shooting skills against Nepal than it did in Wednesday's opener against Bangladesh and recorded a 132-46 victory.

Uzbekistan was equally emphatic in posting two victories on this day. It crushed Bangladesh 106-22 and returned in the evening to overpower Sri Lanka. In the morning, Lanka had overcome a 34-42 deficit at half-time against Nepal to win 92-76.

From India's point of view, it was another day to fine-tune its preparations. Different combinations were tried out with nearly the same percentage of scoring success in every quarter. India scored at an average of around 30 points per quarter and did not allow too many liberties to Nepal. India led 33-15, 60-20 and 92-35 at the end for the first three quarters.

Once again the younger players in the team were made to spend more time on the court. The Indian think-tank tried the combination involving the quick play-maker Sambhaji Kadam, Snehpal Singh, Muralikrishna, captain Gagnesh Kumar and top-scorer Trideep Rai right through the first quarter and nearly the whole of the final quarter.

In the second quarter, Tinu Joseph, Desraj, S. Gobinath and Riyazuddin joined Rai. In the third, S. Robinson and Parminder Singh made brief appearances. It was clear that the coaches were saving some of their leading players for the `big' clash against the Uzbeks.

Considering that Parminder has not spent much time on the court, it would be a good idea to use the country's most experienced campaigner in the present combination play for the better part of the match against Sri Lanka on Friday. At the same time, Robinson, who suffered a sprain in the final-quarter today, is unlikely to have a long stint against the Lankans.

Today, though Indians scored at will, Sambhaji Kadam's capability was the cynosure of all eyes. This 23-year-old Services player, a former Maharashtra junior, was impressive with his athletic and deceptive display. What stood out was his brilliant `assists,' executed in fine style, as well. It remains to be seen how Kadam performs against the Uzbeks.

Nepal, during its third loss in 24 hours, did not look any better than it did against Uzbekistan in its campaign-opener.

Like India, Uzbekistan too, is warming up for Saturday's much-awaited clash. Batir Miradilov, Sergey Demurin, Ruslan Abdurakhamanov, Mikhail Shafenkov and Vyacheslav Belorurov, all part of the team that lost to India in the last Asian Championship in Shenghai in 2001, will be looking forward to avenge the loss.

Today, Nuraliyev enjoyed a fine day at work. After scoring 27 points against Bangladesh, he did one better against the Lankans. Shafenkov and Demurin were the others who kept their team's score ticking.

In the meantime, Doordarshan Sports will telecast the semifinals and final live on July 11 to 12.

The schedule:

July 11: Semifinals from 1500 hrs.

July 12: 3rd and 4th place from 1500 hrs. onwards and final from 1700 hrs. onwards.

The scores (league):

India 132 (Trideep Rai 28, Riyazuddin 22, Desraj 17, Gagnesh Kumar 16, Muralikrishna 11) bt Nepal 46 (Nirmal Gurung 12).

Uzbekistan 106 (Hurmatjon Nuraliyev 27, Mikhail Shafenkov 20, Sergey Demurin 12) bt Bangladesh 22.

Uzbekistan 125 (Hurmatojon Nuraliyev 28, Sergey Demurin 26, Mikhail Shafenkov 23, Vyacheslav Belorurov 15) bt Sri Lanka 39.

Sri Lanka 92 (Chanath Danawansa 26, H. Premarchandra 23, Channinda De Alwis 12) bt Nepal 76 (Mependra Maharjan 24, Manish Lama 15, Rabindra Maharjan 10).

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