The Indian women’s basketball team defeated Kazakhstan 75-73 in a thrilling contest to climb to Division A of the FIBA Asia Cup 2017, on Saturday.
In the Division B final between two undefeated teams, India and Kazakhstan, it was the home team that came out victorious.
India are now promoted to Division A for the next edition of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
Kazakhstan held the size advantage over the Indian team and this was punctuated by the play of Kazakh centre Nadezhda Kondrakova. She was able to score from inside and outside to begin the game.
For India, the scoring came from a balanced team effort. Shireen was aggressive on her drives to the basket, while guards Paul Durai and Raspreet created space to knock down their jumpers.
“All the hard work over the past 5 months paid off,” said India star Limaye after the thrilling victory.
Delighted with the victory, Basketball Federation of India president K Govindaraj has announced a cash prize of Rs 10,00,000 for the Indian squad.