City cagers qualify for FIBA Asia C’ship

Our Sports Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 24

Ludhiana players, representing Ludhiana Sparx in the women’s section and the Ludhiana Steelers in the men’s section qualified for the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship scheduled to be held at Dhaka in Bangladesh. The dates of this championship are yet to be announced.

Ludhiana cagers qualified for this championship on the basis of their performance during the FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 India Qualifiers held on June 23 and 24 at Bengaluru.

In the women’s section, Ludhiana Sparx comprising Kiranjot Kaur Dhaliwal, Shabnam, Amandeep Kaur and Poonam emerged champions in the qualifiers at Bengaluru. In the final, they outclassed Tamil Nadu 16-10 to book their berth for the FIBA Asia Championship.

Ludhiana men’s outfit with Sunil Bajaj, Gurbhaj Singh, Richu Sharma and Kamal Gurbhaj Singh in its ranks- Ludhiana Steelers, however waged a spirited battle against West Bengal before going down 17-21 but nevertheless, they too assured themselves a ticket to the championship slated to be held in Dhaka as the finalists qualify for this competition.

Ludhiana eves got cash prize of Rs75,000 besides winners’ trophy, while the men pocketed cash prize of Rs50,000 in addition to the runner’s up trophy.

Rajdeep Singh Gill and Teja Singh Dhaliwal, president and general secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association, respectively, along with other office-bearers and those of the Ludhiana District Basketball Association congratulated the players on this achievement. They also appreciated their coach Davinder Pal Singh Dhindsa for guiding them to bring fame to the city and state.