FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2023 basketball: India men’s team bows out after finishing bottom in group

The Indian men’s 3x3 basketball team lost both their Pool C matches to crash out of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2023 on Saturday.

With the top two teams from the group progressing to the quarter-finals, the Indian men’s 3x3 basketball team, ranked 49th in the world, lost 21-13 to Kazakhstan in the first match and went down to China by an identical scoreline to finish third in the Pool C.

The two defeats meant India, who finished at the bottom of their group, failed to progress into the knockout rounds. China topped the pool followed by Kazakhstan, who lost to the group leaders in the other Pool C match.

In India’s defeat against Kazakhstan, Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon scored five points while Arvind Kumar Muthu Krishnan and Piyush Meena notched up three points each. Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu won one point for the team.

In the second match, India went with an unchanged line-up against China. Despite Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon and Arvind Kumar Muthu Krishnan scoring five points each, it wasn’t enough to stop the Indian team from finishing winless.

On Friday, the Indian women’s 3x3 basketball team, too, failed to progress beyond the group stage of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2023 main draw after finishing third in Pool D of the women’s competition.

The champions of the men’s and women’s FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup 2023 basketball tournaments will earn a spot in one of the 3x3 basketball Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT) for the Paris 2024 Summer Games.