FIBA World Cup Qualifier: India goes down fighting to Jordan

Bengaluru, February 23: Team India fought hard but fell short to Jordan losing 88-102 at the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers Window-2 in Bengaluru on Friday. This was the first game of the second window for both India and Jordan which was being played in Sree Kanteerava Stadium. India will face Lebanon on February 26 for their second game at the same venue.

Indian squad for WC Asian Qualifiers

India had a strong start to the game and maintained their league until team India went into foul trouble before the first quarter ended and gave away the lead to Jordan. India’s veteran forward Yadwinder Singh got into foul trouble very early in the game that made him sit out most of the game but the debutant guard Justin J impressed in his first senior international game dropping 16 points.

Jordan took the lead from India late in the end of the first quarter and maintained it throughout the game. At the starting of the 3rd quarter India were down 13 points but they showed some signs of a comeback and brought the lead as close to 5 points at a time but weren’t able to take advantage of it as back to back turnovers from the Indian team provided a good momentum to the Jordan and they took the game away.

Aravind Annadurai carried his impressive form from the previous tournaments and the qualifiers games and led the Indian team with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Satnam Singh maintained his consistency by dropping 20 points along with 8 assists and 4 powerful dunks.

India will now face Lebanon on Feb 26 at 7:00 P.M at Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru.

Result: Jordan (Hussein 19pts, Tucker 18pts, Abdeen 18pts) bt India (Aravind 28pts, Satnam 20pts, Justin 16pts) 102-88

Source: BFI Media