BANGKOK, Thailand (1st FIBA Asia 3x3 U18 Championship for Boys and Girls):
Playing
their second successive Final of the day, India would have hoped for
their boys to make amends for the disappointment in the girls section.
But as things would turn out, it was Philippines’ overall better control
of the proceedings that became the highlight as the SEABA team
outsmarted their opponents to win 21-19 and clinch the gold.
Things did good look for India during the day.
The
team showing some excellent opportunism in offense and solid
temperament in defense had overcome two tough WABA opponents in
back-to-back games heading to the final.
Against
Lebanon, India with Loveneet Singh at the vanguard seized the
initiative early on and steadily built on it advance. And against Syria
in the semifinals, it took a lot of effort on the defensive skills of
Gurvinder Gill to keep the rally of their opponents at bay.
Thus when India entered the Final game, it was certainly with their expectations buoyant.
But
Philippines, themselves had come into the gold medal game with their
antlers up having beaten the mighty China in the semifinals.
As Rashleigh Rivero put it: “We were really scared of the Chinese, their size and height.”
But
in a bruising battle that saw an unsportsmanlike foul being called on a
Chinese player, Ferdinand Ravena converted two free-throws – a rare
instance in 3x3 – to clinch the issue.
And
the tale of close contest for Philippines, who had survived a late
scare against Japan in the quarterfinals, continued in the gold medal
game continued.
Ravena
looked as flamboyant as ever and Rivero as steady, but the Indian
quartet playing some uninhibited basketball kept nagging.
The scoreboard, as a result almost equal, till Ravena sealed the issue reaching the 21-point mark.
“Honestly, I don’t have words to describe my feelings,” Rivero said.
“We are overwhelmed. We didn’t really think we could go all the way. We had God on our side,” Ravena added.
“We worked really hard for this,” chipped in Arvin Tolentino. “I think God helped us because we helped ourselves,” he said.
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