NAGPUR: A day after they posted their first win after 11 years in the league stage of the Fiba U-16 Asian Basketball Championship, the determined lot of young Indian cagers surprised hosts Qatar 77-51 in Doha on Tuesday. With this facile 26-point win, India qualified for the knockout stage of the continental event after 2011.
While power forward Kushal Singh fired a game-high 31 points, Jaideep Rathore (18) and Harsh Dagar (17) played pivotal roles in India's second victory in as many days. After taking a handy seven-point (23-16) lead in the first quarter, India stretched the advantage further to eight points at the lemon break.