Damascus [Syria], August 18 : The Indian men's basketball team concluded its FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023 campaign with a 66-79 defeat against Bahrain on Thursday.
This marked India's third loss in the tournament after winning the first two matches. They are currently placed at number three in the six-team points table and their final position will be determined after two more matches, as per Olympics.com.
India started off strongly with wins over Syria and Indonesia, but a narrow loss against Kazakhstan and another defeat against Saudi Arabia ended their hopes of achieving an Olympics 2024 berth in Basketball.
Bahrain ended their campaign unbeaten and managed to reach the final Olympic qualifying tournament to be played next year. Despite being the fifth-best ranked side in the table at world number 84, Bahrain defied all odds to finish at the top with five wins in five games.
For the world number 82 Indian side, Sahaij Sekhon scored 17 points and made four assists, and two steals in the match, ending the day as the country's top performers. Muzamil Ameer Hamooda (24 points) and Mustafa Rashed (14 points) were the top two attackers from Bahrain.
Despite having lost their chance at an Olympics berth, India started the match positively and led Bahrain by 24-17 in the first quarter.
But in the second quarter, lack of proper finishing despite the opportunities put India on the backfoot and allowed Bahrain to come back and take a 48-39 lead after 20 minutes.
Bahrain continued with their free-flowing game in the third quarter and from a seven-point lead, India slipped to 19 point deficit.
Indian captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, other experienced players like Muin Bek Hafeez, Amyjot Singh Gill and youngster Pranav Prince, did not have the best of days on the court as India lost the match by 13 points and bowed out of the competition.
Basketball has been a medal sport at the Summer Olympics since 1936 in Berlin. The Indian team has only appeared once in the sport, finishing 12th in 1980 games at Moscow. The USA is the most successful team in basketball with 30 medals, including 25 gold medals. The men's team has won 16 golds and 19 medals while the women's team has secured nine golds and 11 medals.
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