NAGPUR: Indian men hoopsters outplayed Macao, China 21-12 to confirm their knockout berth in the 3x3 basketball as the women's 5x5 team started their Asian Games campaign with a stunning 66-46 win over higher ranked Indonesia on Wednesday.
India's U-23 3x3 girls team, however, suffered their second straight defeat as they were humbled by hosts China 8-22.
In the men's section, fast rising forward Sahaij Sekhon once again made his presence felt with a game-high 10-point effort as India made light work of Macao 21-12 with 30 seconds remaining on the clock. Sekhon was well supported by Princepal Singh (5), Pranav Prince (4) and Lokendra Singh (2).
In their last league of Pool C, India will face hosts and unbeaten China on Friday. The winner of India-China game will directly qualify for the quarterfinals while the team finishing second in the pool plays the pre-quarterfinal knockout game.
In the women's 3x3 section, Indian girls found mighty China too tough to handle and were humbled by as many as 14 points and a minute before the end of regulation time. Vaishnavi Yadav (6) fought the lone battle for India.
Despite losing both their league round games, Indian girls advanced to the 3x3 women's knockout stage as they were placed in three-team pool A. With the pool topper advancing to the quarterfinals, the remaining teams will play knockouts. In their pre-quarterfinal game, India will face the loser of Korea and Malaysia.
In the 5x5 full-court basketball event, where just the Indian women contingent qualified for the Games, they started their campaign on a thumping note. In their tournament opener, the 67th ranked Indian outfit surprised world no. 51 Indonesia by as many as 20 points (66-46).
After winning the first quarter 18-14, both the teams netted 11 points as India maintained a handy four-point lead at the breather. After the change of ends, Indonesia won the third quarter 11-9 to bring down the lead, but India played a dominant last period, winning the same 28-10, to post an emphatic 20-point win.
For India, skipper Shireen Limaye scored a game-high 13 points and pulled five rebounds to lead from the front while assisting the ball on four occasions. Pushpa Senthil and Sruthy Rathinavel played pivotal roles in India's win. While Pushpa chipped in with 12 points and pulled nine rebounds, Sruthy scored a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Madhu Kumari and Sanjana Ramesh too played well for 9 and 8 points respectively.
Though Indonesia won the battle of boards 60-56, India earned 18 turnover points while scoring 13 from the fast break. As compared to Indonesia's 13% three-point conversion, India netted 23% from behind the arc.
On Friday, India will square up against lower ranked Mongolia.
