BASKETBALL
India qualifies for FIBA Asia Cup 2025 with thrilling win over Bahrain
India pulled off a coup, displaying spunk and excellent end-game skills to outwit Bahrain 81-77 in a thriller on Saturday night to qualify for the FIBA men’s Asia Cup 2025.
India will now travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the Continental tournament to be held from August 5 to 17.
Certainly not the favourite, India outplayed Iraq 97-77 and then Bahrain in the Qualifying tournament for the third-placed teams in Group-H. India led 39-38 against Bahrain at half time and then pulled away in the third, taking a 62-55 lead. It held its own in the fourth and final quarter to clinch a famous victory. The last time India beat Bahrain was in 2013.
Harsh Dagar was the star of India with 28 points with 6-3 pointers. He had three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Gurbaz Sandhu was the next top-scorer with 15 points. Kanwar Sandhu did his part to perfection, scoring 15 points while Pranav Prince and Hafeez picked 11 points each. One of the main reasons for India’s victory was its three pointers, which India’s head coach Scott Flemming has been harping on. It converted 14 times out of 29 attempts.
Entering the fourth quarter, India appeared to have the match in its control, having taken a 62-55 lead. However, Bahrain fought back to snatch two-point lead at 77-75. Arvind Krishnan produced a three-pointer for 78-77 with just one minute and 38 seconds left. It was a tense last few seconds as both teams fought hard. In the dying seconds, Prince forced a turnover when he deflected Mosti Rashed’s inbound pass. After the final whistle, the team erupted in joy.
India has now qualified the Asia Cup for the 11th straight time- a streak that dates back to 2001.
“Really proud of our guys coming in here and winning two games when it easily could’ve gone the other way. This is now our third win in the Asia Cup Qualifiers and these are uncharted areas that we haven’t had for a long time in India. It’s all about them. I’m just trying to put them in a position to win and they take over from here. We still have things to work on … really glad, really proud of these guys. We’re going to the Asia Cup,” said Flemming.
– Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Miami Open 2025: Yuki Bhambri set to replace Rohan Bopanna as India No.1 in doubles
Yuki Bhambri and Portugal’s Nuno Borges defeated Rohan Bopanna and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, [10-7] in the opening round of men’s doubles at the Miami Open on Saturday.
With this result, Bhambri is set to replace Bopanna as India No. 1 in ATP Doubles Rankings.
Bopanna, with Australia’s Matthew Ebden, had won the title in Miami last year. However, due to his first-round loss, the 45-year-old has dropped from 21st to 43rd in the live rankings. On the other hand, Bhambri has jumped from 37th to 29th.
Bhambri and Borges will face the Czech-British pair of Adam Pavlasek and Jamie Murray for a place in the quarterfinals.
– Team Sportstar
