Following in footsteps of family, Amaan aims high in basketball

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23

Amaan Sandhu is not only following in his parent’s footsteps but following a dream of becoming a successful Indian basketball player. His dream is fast becoming a reality.

Basketball runs in the blood of the Sandhu family, and Amaan has taken the legacy to new heights. He has become the youngest member of the Indian squad which is participating at the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Bahrain.

His inspiration comes from his parents. His father Gurcharan Jeet Singh Sandhu is a former international basketball player, while his mother Rajinder Kaur is a former national level player. His sister Aakarshan Sandhu, who stands at 6 feet, is also an international player. She represented the country in the 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women. Amaan, who got into the NBA Noida in 2017, recently played an important role in helping Punjab claim the top podium position in the Junior National Championship and Khelo India Games in Guwahati.

He was one of 64 high school prospects who participated in the sixth annual Basketball Without Borders Global Camp, held earlier this month. Of the 40 boys at the camp, he was the only one from India.

“I am looking forward to getting a scholarship in the US. Being the youngest in the Indian squad definitely makes me feel tense but once I am on the court everything that matters is my performance,” said Amaan. “I started taking the sport seriously after my father took me to some matches. Luckily, I got into the NBA Noida Academy and in June 2018 I played along with Princepal Singh and Aashay Verma for India at an NBA Global Camp in Italy. Last year, I represented NBA Academy India at the third NBA Academy Games in Atlanta and was later picked among four Indians for the Basketball Without Border Asia Camp in Tokyo,” he added.

The youngster added that basketball is a gift from his family. “My father played for India for nearly seven years and my mother also played for the same period of time. I was born in Mohali and did my initial schooling from there before moving my focus to NBA,” he said.