India announces U-18 men squad for Boys U18 Asia Cup at Dhaka, Bangladesh

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 | EDIT

– Boys U-18 Asia Cup is being held from September 24-30 at Dhaka, Bangladesh

Delhi, 19 September 2016: Hockey India today announced the U-18 men’s squad for theBoys U18 Asia Cup to be held at Dhaka, from 24-30 September 2016.

Defender Nilam Sanjeep Xess will be the Captain and Hardik Singh will be the Vice-Captain for the Indian Team at the tournament. Both players have also been part of the junior team that won the EurAsia Cup earlier this year and will form the backbone of the defence for the team.

Pankaj Kumar Rajak and Tanuj Gulia, will be the custodians in goal for the squad. Manipur boys, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem and Ibungo Singh Konjengbam will lead the line for the team in the midfield and attack respectively. The duo were prolific in the Hockey India Sub-Junior National Championship held at Imphal in May 2016.

Speaking on the announcement, Md. Mushtaque Ahmad, Secretary General, Hockey India said, “Our aim to reach new heights of hockey rankings internationally has to start from the junior level. We are hosts of the Junior World Cup in December 2016 and keeping that in mind we are constantly ensuring our junior teams across different levels get good exposure to international hockey. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Hockey India to thank Sports Authority of India for their initiative in the launch of the National Hockey Academy in Delhi. Many of these young athletes will get their first exposure to international hockey and through this experience it will help them prepare for their future career in the sport. That aside, the Boys U-18 Asia Cup is a good determinant for the Coaches to find the potential future stars and to see how we are doing in terms of development in our players at the junior level.”

Team:

Goalkeepers: Pankaj Kumar Rajak, Tanuj Gulia
Defenders: Nilam Sanjeep Xess (Captain), Hardik Singh (Vice Captain), Vidhan Patel, Harshdeep Kapoor, Shivam Anand
Midfielders: Dharminder Singh, Kunwardilraj Singh, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Kishore Arya, Harish Mutagar
Forwards: Dilpreet Singh, Mohammad Umar, Ibungo Singh Konjengbam, Sunny Malik, Shivam Anand, Abhisek 

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India upset higher ranked Taipei to end in 7th place

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 | EDIT

FIBA Asia Challenge 2016- India upset higher ranked Taipei to end in 7th place; best performance in 27 years!

Continuing to make its rise among the Asian ranks, India beat Taipei 80-68, to end FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 in 7th place. It is to be recalled that India had also upset China and Philippines earlier on in this competition. Considering the higher number of teams this time around, this is India’s best ever performance at the Asian level in 27 years, since India finished 6th at the 1989 FIBA Asia Championship.

New Delhi/Bengaluru, 18th September 2016: Closing out on a spectacular note, the 53rd ranked Indian team outclassed higher ranked Chinese Taipei (WR48) to end the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge in 7th position. The tournament has entered its final day at the Twelve Thousand People Sport Hall, Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran, Iran.

The margin of the 80-68 victory is especially significant considering that Taipei had beaten India by 24 points (90-66) earlier on in the preliminary group B. Prior to that India had lost to Taipei by 6 points during the 38th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament back in July.

Backup forward Rikin Pethani steps up, before Amritpal, Vishesh & TJ take over

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.

After captain Amritpal Singh opened the scoring for India, Pethani took over, scoring 6 straight points to tie the game at 8-8 midway through the first quarter. A Taipei run sparked by the naturalized American Quincy Davis III followed, as India trailed 17-22 going into the second 10 minutes.

The Pethani show continued in Q2, as India went on its own 10-2 run to reach halftime with a 1 point lead, 33-32. With his final statline reading 17 points and 9 rebounds, most of which came in the first half, Pethani had done more than enough. In the second half, two of India’s “Big Three” – centre Amritpal and shooting guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi started to take over. A powerful dunk by Amritpal midway through the third got India a slender 3pt lead (36-39), before Taipei made another push of its own to lead 50-46. The momentum swung back India’s way late in the period thanks to 6 unanswered points by India which included a two pointer by the streaky high octane backup guard Talwinderjit Sahi with just 8 seconds left.

India had now outscored Taipei in back to back quarters and led 52-50 heading into the final 10 minutes.

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.

That though turned out to be Taipei’s last stand, as captain Amritpal and TJ sparked another 8-0 run to take India up 70-63 with a little under 3 minutes remaining in the game. The last three minutes saw another 10-5 scoring spree for India to seal the memorable triumph.

Amritpal had recorded his 5th double double (at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in a single game) of the tournament, while Vishesh led India’s scorers with 22. Backups Rikin and TJ too had contributed more than 10 points each.

Interestingly, the third component of India’s Big Three, power forward Amjyot Singh, with a reduced role, had 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal and a block. In a bid to avoid Taipei any easy scoring, he had also committed all of his 5 permitted fouls.

India’s improved perimeter defensive close outs must also be lauded for restricting Taipei to just 3/17 from beyond the arc, after allowing 11 three pointers in their earlier head to head loss.

Results on 18/9/2016

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]

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.

What makes the victory over Taipei even sweeter is the fact that this could well be India’s first ever win against the side. Most importantly, the victory proved that on their day, when all guns are firing, India can beat some of the best teams in Asia.

About the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016

The FIBA Asia Challenge was previously known as the FIBA Asia Cup. It is the first step in the qualification process for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as “FIBA Asia Championship”).

The top 5 teams will earn for their respective sub-zones an extra berth at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, which will be the first inter-continental tournament featuring teams from both Asia and Oceania (i.e. Australia & New Zealand). The top teams from the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup qualify to play the 2017 New Competition System, from where 7 teams will progress to the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge will be held at the Twelve Thousand People Sport Hall, located in the north & south of the main street of the Azadi Sport Complex.  Host Iran is the defending champion.

Format

The initial round of the tournament will be played in a round robin format. The 12 participating teams have been divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each, and each team will play the 2 teams that are in the same group as them.

Preliminary Round Grouping

Group A: China, Jordan, Kazakhstan

Group B: Philippines, India, Chinese Taipei

Group C: Iran, Qatar, Iraq

Group D: Japan, Korea, Thailand

All 12 preliminary round teams will advance to the second round, where they will be divided into 2 teams of 6 each. Each team will then play the 3 new teams in its group. The top 4 teams from each of the second round groups will then move on quarter-finals, followed by the semifinals and finals.

For more information please visit: www.fiba.com/asia/challenge/2016

India’s Squad

The final 12 members of the squad who will represent India at the FIBA Asia Challenge were selected at the end of a nearly one-month long training camp held at NMAM Institute of Technology (NITTE) in Karkala, Udupi district of coastal Karnataka.

While the Indian side remains largely unchanged from last month’s 38th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament, there are a couple of key changes. Veteran swingman and defensive stopper Yadwinder Singh returns to the team, and is expected to provide much needed versatility on both ends of the floor in terms of matchups. Also, teenager Hariram Ragupathy, one of the stars from India’s historic 8th place finish at the 2016 FIBA Asia U18 Championship, makes his debut into the senior team.

A small ceremony was held at the NITTE campus to bid farewell to the Indian squad, which was attended by Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General of BFI.

“On behalf of BFI I convey my sincere thanks to NITTE University management, who for the last two years have been continuously providing us all the training facilities for the Indian team. This is my first visit here, but this is one of the best campus facilities I have seen,” said Mr Sharma.

Addressing the departing contingent, he said, “Ultimately, it is the outcome of your efforts which will benefit basketball in India. You are the players who are icons for all other players in the country. So I wish you all the success and that you put up a performance that is even better than in all the previous championships that you have attended.”

Senior Men’s Squad for the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016

Jersey No	Family Name(s) /Last Name	First Name(s) /Given Name	Place of Birth (City and State)		Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy)	Height (cm) (ft & inches)	Weight (Kg)	Position
4	Bhullar	Arshpreet Singh	Jalandhar	Punjab	02/10/1996	190 (6’ 3’’)	86	G/F
9	Bhriguvanshi	Vishesh	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	13/09/1991	195 (6’ 5’’)	95	G/F
10		Amritpal Singh	Ganna Pind	Punjab	05/01/1991	207 (6’ 9.5’’)	110	C
12	Philip	Basil	Sulthanbathery	Kerala	10/01/1991	184 (6’)	76	G/F
14	Yadwinder	Singh	Rasulpur Khurd	Punjab	30/12/1986	198 (6’ 6’’)	95	F
15	Pethani	Rikin	Sajiavadar Amreli	Gujarat	02/12/1990	203 (6’ 8”)	104	C
22	Bhardwaj	Ravi	Chandigarh	Chandigarh	31/10/1992	207 (6’ 9”)	100	F/C
25	Ragupathy	Hariram	Chennai	Tamil Nadu	24/04/1998	184 (6’)	72	SG
27		Amjyot Singh	Chandigarh	Punjab/ Haryana	27/01/1992	203 (6’ 8”)	104	F
46	Sivakumar	Prasanna Venkatesh	Gobichettipalayam	Tamil Nadu	25/09/1992	186 (6’ 1”)	85	G/F
66	Pari	Akilan	Chennai	Tamil Nadu	20/07/1989	180 (5’ 10’’)	70	PG
99		Talwinderjit Singh	Patiala	Punjab	20/10/1986	182 (5’ 11’’)	80	PG

*PG – Point Guard / Feeder, G – Guard, F – Forward, G/F – Wing, PF – Power Forward, C – Centre, PF/C – Post

13) Coach: Sat Prakash Yadav

14) Coach: C. V. Sunny

15) Physiotherapist: Nikhil N. P.

16) Manager: Shaktikumar Mahipatsinh Gohil

17) FIBA Commissioner: Norman Swaroop Issac

18) FIBA Referee: Atanu Banerjee

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Images of Migrants: Media and its Role in Shaping Public Perception

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 | EDIT

The Orientation Day proposes to journalists, civil society and community media to: discuss migration trends in India and South Asia; examine the relevance of choices of words and images when narrating stories of migrants (article, film, radio, TV); share their experiences on the empowerment of migrants through their coverage; and ultimately reflect upon their role and responsibility in shaping public perceptions of migrants.

Seats are limited. If you are interested to attend, kindly send an email to both Nikita Sisaudia at n.sisaudia@unesco.org and Verena Stauber at vstauber@iom.int, so that an invitation can be mailed to you.

Thanking you

Kind regards

Marina Faetanini

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VISIT FLORIDA Announces Winners of Sunshine Contest 2016

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 | EDIT

Mumbai, 19th September, 2016 – VISIT FLORIDA recently announced the winners of ‘The Sunshine Contest 2016’. The contest was launched on 1st July and concluded on 12th August. Based on the submissions, Mr. Tushar Jain of Maurya Travels and Ms. Sonia David of SOTC were declared the lucky winners of the Sunshine Contest, who also win an all expense paid FAM trip to Florida.

The Sunshine contest was first launched in 2014 to promote the VISIT FLORIDA online specialist program, considering the overwhelming response of the participants the contest has become an annual event. The contest has also enabled VISIT FLORIDA to emerge as a proactive brand in the travel trade industry.

On winning the contest Mr. Tushar Jain said “VISIT FLORIDA hosted an amazing contest which is educative at the same time incentivizing”. 

Also speaking on winning the competition, Ms. Sonia David said “Sunshine contest is a great way of increasing brand engagement for the travel trade fraternity; this contest has made me more competent towards selling the destination”.

Speaking on the occasion Ms. Seldon Tenzing, Account Director India, VISIT FLORIDAsaid “At VISIT FLORIDA we try new ways of promoting our destination and Sunshine Contest has been one such approach which is exclusive to us. Through this contest we aim at encouraging our travel and tour partners in taking an active role in promoting the destination in unique ways, so that they absorb the brand VISIT FLORIDA and not operate as third parties”.