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Indian cagers go down fighting to Qatar

India, sorely lacking a playmaker, went down fighting to last edition's runners-up Qatar 61-68 and bowed out of medal reckoning in the 16th Asian Junior (under-18) men's basketball championship at Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

India staged a superb fightback in the second half of their concluding group B match by narrowing the half-time lead of 26-40 against the west Asian nation, who had finished second behind six-time champions China when the event was last held in Calcutta two years ago.

India, in fact, outscored their rivals in the second half and were within striking distance, trailing 51-56 with three minutes to go, when two mispasses cost them the match.

India, thus, missed a golden chance of causing a major upset which would have got them a spot in the quarter-finals from this group in which they had lost to Hong Kong-China, who topped the pool, in their lung opener and beaten Singapore.

The Apoorva Sontakke-led team will now have to fight for minor placings (9-12) and take on Sri Lanka, who gave a scare to group C toppers Kuwait before losing 55-60 (half-time 24-26) in their concluding league match, on Sunday.

If India win against their South Asian neighbours Lanka, then they will have a chance to finish 9th or 10th. They had finished 13th at Calcutta.

For India, Tridip Rai once again top-scored with 18 points while Dilip Kumar and Sontakke chipped in with 9 and 8 points respectively.