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18th September 2016: Closing out on a spectacular note India beat last year silver medallist Chinese Taipei 80-68 and finished on the 7th position at the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016. Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran, Iran. This was one of the best performances by India in 27years India also avenged the defeat they had from Chinese Taipei in the group match earlier in the preliminary group B by 24  points  66-90. Prior to that India had lost to Taipei by 6 points during the 38th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament back in July.

India which trailed in the first quarter  the  17-22 came back strongly in the second quarter and took 33-32 lead at the end of the first half and ended the third quarter with 52-50 The fourth quarter continued in India’s favour, starting with a three pointer by Vishesh (his second of the game), and another two by TJ. But Taipei was in no mood to back down. Quincy Davis had a dunk of his own to bring it within 5, before Yi-Hsiang Chou and Kai-Hsiang Hu combined to take Taipei back up by 1 point

For India Vishesh Brighuvanshi was the top performer with 22 points 5 rebounds and 4 assists followed by captain Amarjoth singh with 20 points and Having come off the bench in all previous 7 games so far, Rikin Pethani made the most of his first start, literally grabbing the opportunity with both hands  scoring 6 straight points to tie the game at 8-8 midway through the first quarter scored 17 pints  Amjoth has to be rested till the 3rd quarter but in the final quarter he came out and out India in the safe position

Best performance by an Indian men’s team in 27 years

India’s 7th place finish out of a 12 team strong competition, could well be its best performance in the last 28 years. The side has had better finishes in terms of final standings in previous editions of this competition (which was formerly known as “FIBA Asia Cup” and “FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup”). India had finished 5th out of 5 teams in 2008, 6th out of 8 teams in 2004, and 7th out of 9 teams in 2014. But considering the smaller field on these occasions, India’s current 7th place (with 4 wins & 4 losses) is its best ever performance in 27 years, after its 6th place finish in the 1989 Asian Basketball Championship.

This is also the only time when India has beaten 3 higher ranked sides (China, Philippines and Taipei) in the same event.

It is also pertinent to note that only last year, at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, India had finished 8th, its best ever since 2003. So the current 7th place is another big step forward.

Detailed Result
India(Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 22 pts, Amritpal Singh 20 pts 13 reb, Rikin Pethani 17 pts 9 reb, Talwinderjit Singh 13 pts) bt Taipei (Quincy Davis III 13 pts & 15 reb, Yu-An Chiang 16 pts, Yi-Hsiang Chou 15 pts) 80-68 (17-22, 16-10, 19-18, 28-18]