FIBA U-16 Asian C’ship: India pummels Nepal 106-37

India got off to a rousing start in the FIBA U-16 Women's Asian Championship, routing Nepal 106-37 in their Division B clash at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium.

India's Vaishnavi Yadav in action against Nepal during a Division ‘B’ clash in the FIBA U-16 Women's Asian Championship at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

India got off to a rousing start in the FIBA U-16 Women's Asian Championship, routing Nepal 106-37 in their Division B clash at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium here on Sunday. The home side was in command from the outset and – against an opponent making its first appearance at the Asian level in any age-group – was never put under any real pressure.

Forward Vaishnavi Yadav (23 points) and centre Pushpa Senthil Kumar (18 points) turned in impressive performances as India raced to a 26-8 lead in the first quarter before extending that advantage to 83-20 by the end of the third. Pushpa was in fine form under the board, managing 11 rebounds as Nepal struggled to deal with her strength and reach. Yadav, though not as accurate with her shots as she may have hoped, had no trouble with the rival defence, and made seven assists for good measure. Point guard Neha Karwa was in the thick of things in the first and third quarters, and despite a couple of misplaced passes was comfortable on the ball.

India will face Sri Lanka on Monday.

In the morning's trans-Tasman clash, Australia comfortably overcame New Zealand 61-43 in Division A. Three-time champion China, meanwhile, steamrollered Hong Kong 141-32, with Wan Jiyuan, Liu Yutong, Zheng Ming all enjoying 20-point-games. Japan drubbed Thailand 115-37 while South Korea too posted a convincing win over Chinese Taipei.

The results:

Division A:

Group A: Australia 61 (Shyla Heal 10, Isabel Palmer 10, Eliza Hollingsworth 10) bt New Zealand 43 (Charlisse Leger-Walker 13); South Korea 90 (Geumbi Na 14, Yerim Jung 14, Nayeon Ko 13, Haeran Lee 12, Heekyo Jeon 10) bt Chinese Taipei 68 (Chia-Jung Lin 18, Yueh-Ti Wang 10).

Group B: Japan 115 (Maika Mura 20, Yuki Shuto 14, Msa Hayashi 12, Yu Suzuki 10, Sakura Noguchi 10) bt Thailand 37 (Yada Sriharaksa 14); China 141 (Wan Jiyuan 22, Liu Yutong 21, Zheng Ming 20, Liu Jiaqi 17, Zhou Jing 13, Ma Zhou 12) bt Hong Kong 32 (Nga Wing Law 11).

Division B:

Group A: India 106 (Vaishnavi Yadav 23, Pushpa Senthil Kumar 18, Monica Jayakumar 13, Neha Karwa 10) bt Nepal 37 (Pratikshya Magar 11).

Group B: Malaysia 130 (Lai Toong Tan 15, Shi Yu Lim 15, Zi Wei Wong 13, Siew Hong Yap 12, Edna Lee 15, J Lim 10) bt Maldives 14.