Indian sports wrap, July 13: India begins FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Division B event with win over Kazakhstan

BASKETBALL

FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, Division B: India begins campaign for promotion with win over Kazakhstan

India women’s basketball team beat Kazakhstan 85-68 in its Group A opener of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup (Division B) in Shenzhen, China, on Sunday.

Pushpa Senthil Kumar (23 points), Sreekala Rani (15 points) and Sathya Krishnamurthi (15 points) were the top scorers in India’s victory.

The competition, which concludes on July 20, has eight teams divided equally into two groups with the winner of the tournament set to be promoted to Division A.

India has previously won the Division B title in 2017 when it was also the host. However, the team missed out on playing in Division A in 2023 and aims to find its way back.

India’s next match in Group A will be against Chinese Taipei on Monday, July 14, at 2PM IST.

-Team Sportstar

SHOOTING

Lonato World Cup: Lakshay, Neeru fall short of Trap Mixed Team medal rounds

India ended engagements at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun in Lonato after the pair of Lakshay Sheoran (22, 19, 25) and Neeru Dhanda (25, 24, 25), despite shooting a perfect third series, fell short of the Trap Mixed Team medal rounds. They totaled 140 out of a possible 150 in the qualifying round to finish 10th among 54 pairs.

The second Indian pair of Zoravar Singh Sandhu (21, 23, 24) and Preeti Rajak (23, 24, 23) combined for a tally of 138 to finish in 22nd spot. 

While Neeru continued from her brilliant fourth-place finish in the women’s trap a day earlier to miss just one target out of her 75, Lakshay had a blip in the second series, where he missed six, which eventually cost him a shot at a podium finish.

Four teams—Australia, Great Britain, and both the Spanish teams—topped the qualifications with identical tallies of 143.

The Indian pair of Kynan Chenai and Sabeera Haris had won a bronze in the Trap Mixed Team event at the previous Nicosia Shotgun World Cup. The event will be held for the first time in the Olympics at Los Angeles in 2028.

-Team Sportstar