India swamped Sri Lanka 84-44 to win the four-team Middle Asia Zone qualifying round for the 21st FIBA Asia Cup basketball championship to be held at Sana'a (Yemen).
At the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Saturday, the Indian boys went all out from the very beginning to rattle and subdue the Lankans, to win by a comfortable margin.
SRI LANKA ALSO MAKES IT
Sri Lanka too, however, earned a berth in the Asia Cup championship as the second team from the zone. Kazakhstan with a podium finish in the last edition at Tehran (2008) is an automatic qualifier.
If speed was Lanka's strength, India matched and, at times, even outdid the island nation. Importantly, the Indians were more precise in their conversions with Arjun Singh and Dishant Shah leading the act.
In defence, the relatively taller Indians dominated the boards. If there was one sore point, it was the conversion of free-throws in which the hosts floundered.
India raced away to a 10-2 lead within the first few minutes and jolted Lanka's plans. And with India coach Ramkumar employing the full court press, the rivals fumbled time and again.
Arjun Singh and Berdinent Carmel Joseph effected steals and interceptions with regularity. The tall Amjyot Singh and Shadab Khan scored points at will. And with Arjun and even Ajay Pratap shooting well from outside, India raced to a 28-11 (first quarter) and 56-20 lead by the halfway stage.
With the match and title virtually sealed, coach Ramkumar eased up a bit by bringing on Bobby Singh and Sunny Raut. The duo joined the scoring act without much delay.
LANKA ERRS
Sri Lanka was expected to provide stiffer opposition but that never came about. Kanishka Perera was effectively bottled up, while Clinton Stallone erred with his shooting and the Lankans never looked like catching up.
Earlier, Bangladesh lifted its game a few notches even as Nepal finished third with a 62-33 verdict after being 30-15 up at half-time.
The scores: For title: India 84 (Arjun Singh 19, Dishant Shah 17) bt Sri Lanka 44 (Madushanka Rathnayake 11); Bangladesh 62 (Md. Tareq Aziz 18, Md. Shamsuzzaman Khan Soyeb 17, Md. Insun Mamun Khan 12, Md. Mahmudul Hasan Shawn 10) bt Nepal 33.
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