FIBA Asia Cup 2025: Indian basketball team beats Kazakhstan 85-68 in group opener

The Indian basketball team won its opening Group A match in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2025 Division B against Kazakhstan by an 85-68 scoreline at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in the People’s Republic of China on Sunday. India’s Pushpa Kumar (177-C-2001) top scored in the match with 23 points and was well-supported by Sathya Krishnamurthi (167-SG-2004) and Sreekala Rani (172-F-2001), who notched up 15 points each. Anastassiya Alishauskaite and Daria Koroleva (182-F-1988) were the standouts from the Kazakh team with 16 points apiece. This was the Indian women’s basketball team’s first appearance in the FIBA Asian Cup after four years. After missing the previous edition of the tournament in 2023 following relegation in 2021, India are competing in Division B at this year’s continental basketball showpiece. India, world No. 15 in the FIBA basketball rankings, started well with Sreekala Rani sinking a three-pointer to open the scoring. However, it was world No. 14 Kazakhstan who led 20-14 at the end of the opening quarter. The Indian team, however, fought back in the second quarter largely thanks to Pushpa Senthil Kumar and Sreekala Rani as they entered the half-time break with the score reading 39-33 in their favour. In the third quarter, the Indian team continued to build on the momentum gained in the second and increased their advantage to 69-47 by the end of the penultimate period. The final quarter saw India, sitting pretty with a handy lead, take their foot off the pedal slightly, allowing the Kazakhstan women’s basketball team more time in the offensive third. Though the Kazahs outscored the Indians in the fourth period, it was only enough to reduce their margin of defeat. The Indian basketball team will face world No. 6 Chinese Taipei, who beat Tahiti 122-38 in their opening match, in its next FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2025 Division B match on Monday. A total of eight teams, divided into two groups, are competing in Division B of the 31st FIBA Women’s Asia Cup. India have been drawn in Group A with Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei and Tahiti. After round robin matches, the two group toppers will qualify directly for the semi-finals, while the second and third-placed teams from each group will compete in the playoffs for the other two spots in the semis. The team that eventually wins the Division B final will be promoted to Division A for the next edition.
Courtesy of: olympics.com