India suffered relegation from the elite Division-A of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup basketball tournament, after a 92-78 loss to the Philippines in the 7th-place playoff here on Friday.
The wooden spoon finish also meant that India will not feature in the FIBA Pre-Qualifying Olympic tournament.
The home team needed to win this playoff to retain its elite Division-A spot, but found the speedy Filipinos too hot to handle. Point guard Marizze Andrea (8 assists) ran circles around the Indians, and regularly found her open teammates in the lane.
Shooting guards Anna Castillo (15 points), skipper Janine Pontejos (18 points) and Ria Nabalan (13 points) were deadly from beyond the arc, helping the visitor sink 13 three-pointers.
India did cut the lead to just one point in the third quarter, but could do little once the Philippines shooters got into the groove. Shireen Limaye (23 points) was once again India’s top performer.
Big disparity
Overall, the tournament exposed the gulf in quality between India and the top continental nations. Speed, physical play, set plays, shooting efficiency — India was not on equal terms in any department of the game. This disparity was highlighted in the big group stage defeats to Japan, Chinese Taipei and Korea.
India entered the must-win match against Philippines with a slight size advantage, but even that was nullified as the gritty Filipinos comfortably won the rebound battle 51-39.
Australia and Korea sealed semifinal berths with victories over Chinese Taipei and New Zealand respectively.
Comments
SHARE