FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2019: Dismal campaign proves directionless Indian basketball needs major overhaul and long-term vision

India had finished last — out of six teams—in their division at the 2015 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in China. This result itself wasn’t much of a surprise: for the better part of the decade, India had played in the more-talented Division A of the event, against Asian powerhouses China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, and Japan.

Through the course of our basketball history, it has been a near-impossibility for India to ever defeat the ‘big four’. Only once — in 2013 — did they conjure up some magic to win their first (and only) Division A-game, against Kazakhstan, and finish in the fifth place.

No, the last-place finish was no surprise. But what happened right after came as a grave disappointment. India had to play in a play-off match against the best team in Division B — Philippines — to ensure that they would keep their place in the higher Division. In a closely-contested match-up, India lost this game, 82-76, and for the first time since 2005, found themselves relegated to the lower group in Asia.

The FIBA Women’s Asia Cup is a biennial event, and two years later, India were back in action, starting in Division B. This time, they had the home-court advantage, playing in Bengaluru. Facing off against weaker rivals, India stormed through their division, winning every game, including a mesmerising final against Kazakhstan which they won on a buzzer-beating shot by Shireen Limaye. The shot sent India back to Division A — back to the tougher pool — for 2019.

This year’s event was held last week, once again in Bengaluru. India were back to the respectability of the higher division, which now had eight teams: the Big 4, Australia and New Zealand from Oceania, India, and their 2015 rivals, Philippines.

FIBA rules stated that the worst Division A team would face relegation to make room for the best Division B side. It was clear even before the tournament that India and Philippines were the two weakest teams, and survival in the Division would likely come down to the victor of their game. India had to face Japan, Korea, and Chinese Taipei in their group before this predicted eventuality.

It felt odd when —  during a podcast interview  with India’s top player Jeena Skaria two days before tip-off — India seemed almost entirely focused on this game alone. She was asked about other teams and players, but the priority was only the Philippines.

“In 2015, we also played our final game against the Philippines and we lost by a few points and went back to Division B,” said Skaria. “We don’t want that this year. In that game, we have to give more importance to those little, little things. I do remember that time we had missed passes, lots of turnovers.”

“For the team, the most important game is the Philippines game,” Skaria added. “We should be more focussed on that game. Because the team we have right now has many of the same players we had in 2015.”

Apart from Skaria, there were indeed a number of continuing faces from 2015 in the 2019 squad: Anjana PG, Shireen Limaye, Rajapriyadarshani Rajaganapathi, and Bhandavya Mahesha. But instead of the continuity and preparation for that crucial last game working to India’s advantage, it turned out to be a sad case of history repeating itself.

The tournament began. Just like 2015, India lost all of their group games. Apart from a few stretches of inspiration, they lost without giving much of a fight. No one, including the team itself, was expecting a different result. And there were no surprises. India lost by 76 points to Japan. By 25 points to Korea. By 19 to Chinese Taipei.

As predicted, their ‘final’ wasn’t the final itself (Japan beat China to win their fourth-consecutive title) but the 7th/8th place game, against the Philippines. This is the game that India were, theoretically, the most prepared for. India’s ambition, from the very beginning, was to ensure survival in Division A, and nothing more.

You can probably guess how this story concluded: India were a step behind the Filipinos for most of the game. And in the second half, sharp outside-shooting propelled the Philippines to a 92-78 win.

Once again, India were relegated.

There was a strange sense of calm about the moment, even in the moment of setback. The buzzer went off in the fourth quarter to indicate the end of another disappointing tournament. But in this repeat of history, India skipped over all the stages of grief, overlooking the denial and anger, and settling quickly into acceptance. The failure felt normal.

This most-recent tournament was another case of Indian basketball being forever stuck in purgatory. They are better than Division B teams like Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka and much worse than Division A teams like the Asian Big 4, Australia and New Zealand. Their basketball fate is swinging like a pendulum between the worst in one Division and the best in the other, rarely going any higher or falling any lower.

As usual, the ‘blame game’ has begun in the Indian basketball fraternity regarding this failure. Is it the fault of the foreign coach — Zoran Visic — or the Indian ones — Shiba Maggon and KS Brar?

Is it the fault of the ‘star’ players (Skaria, Limaye, Navaneetha PU) or of the team’s youth (Anmolpreet Kaur, Mahesha, Lopamudra TK)? Did this happen because the selectors left out a couple of experienced players back at home (Anitha Pauldurai and Raspreet Sidhu)? Or was it because the team itself didn’t receive the preparation they deserve — in training camp or preparatory matches?

The truth is that the answer lies somewhere in the middle of all of these questions. The coaches failed to make on-court adjustments and strategise for anything except “not losing to the Philippines”; the top players underperformed and the young players were too inexperienced; there was a lack of leadership from the missing veterans; the team missed out on its planned pre-tournament exposure trip to Serbia, instead getting the only match experience it could against junior and club men’s teams in Bengaluru.

But even then, the real reasons are far more complicated. Behind the scenes, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the governing body of all Indian hoops, in-charge of scouting, training, and selecting the national team, has failed time and time again to create a successful game-plan for the national team.

There are several different tangled tangents that could be explored, leading to various blind spots where the sport is lacking. Chief among the reasons is that basketball in India doesn’t have a professional league, and units like Railways or MTNL who offer sports quota jobs for women are few and far in-between. Because of this, fewer women seriously chase basketball as a career option, and a smaller number choose to stick to the sport for the long haul after all the challenges they have to face in their professional and personal lives.

Those players who bravely dedicate themselves — against all odds — to Indian basketball face an uneven career ahead. They take part in occasional national or state championships through the year, and are sometimes, invited to national camps, but for the rest of the calendar, they are away from the game.

Without a consistent group of players dedicated to basketball all year-round, the BFI loses out on ensuring that the players stay healthy, competitive, fit, and have the team-togetherness required to succeed at the higher level. Compared to most of their competition in Asia — like Japan, China and the Philippines — India’s women probably play the least amount of competitive basketball in any given year.

Right now, India only operates tournament to tournament, without any larger idea of developing a long-term winning culture. It comes as no surprise, then, that the results are similar at almost every major Asian championships. India remain in purgatory, around the level they always are: too good for the minnows, too weak for the giants.

By the time India had lost that crucial game to the Philippines on Friday, an unexpected story emerged. FIBA had decided to host the Division B games of this year’s Women’s Asia Cup in a different country to where they held the Division A games.

However, by the time the Division A tournament tipped off in India, no other host nation had stepped up to the plate. At the time of writing, the Division B event still hasn’t been announced.

Without a Division B winner to replace India, India continued to be the default ‘eighth’ team in Women’s FIBA Asia rankings and were thus drawn into the pre-Qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, coming later this year. According to the original rules, India should have been denied this opportunity in favour of the Division B winner.

Unfortunately for FIBA, there is no Division B winner right now. Fortunately for India, this gap might help them prolong their stay in Division A — even for the 2021 edition of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.

As it turned out, this comedy of errors might save India — undeservingly — from punishment.

India’s performance may have been dismal at the Women’s Asia Cup. However, it appears that there may be a silver lining after all. A number of young Indian women, with the help of their performances at the state/national championships and the NBA Academy’s women programmes, have been selected over the past few years for basketball scholarships abroad.

If they come back to the national programme, these players — including Sanjana Ramesh, Vaishnavi Yadav, Srishti Suren, and Khushi Dongre — are sure to form the crux of India’s future teams. It is imperative for India to ensure that their talents aren’t wasted but can contribute to a winning system in the future.

As for the next edition of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, whether or not India remains in Division A, one thing is for sure: there is a need for a radical upheaval if India is to break out of this rut. Otherwise, no matter where they end up in 2021, they will likely continue being stuck in this pendulum, rocking back and forth without going anywhere at all.