CHENNAI (India) - Years of sorrow finally came to a relieving end as India rolled past Kazakhstan, 88-69, in a FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers affair witnessed live by 6,128 screaming souls at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Monday night.
The home team overcame a slow start and then roared back in the next two quarters behind their hot shooting from deep, and then put on a strong finish on the way to ending the men's program's 16-game losing skid in official FIBA competitions.
Yes, the team hasn't won a FIBA game for that long or in three years, or since downing Palestine by way of a 79-77 result during the 2021 Asia Cup Qualifiers' Tournament for Third-Placed Teams back in August 22 in Saudi Arabia of that same year to qualify.
Aside from breaking through in the Group E win column in the ongoing Qualifiers, India notched their first win against Kazakhstan as well in 27 long years.
"It's been a long time coming," exhaled head coach Scott Flemming, who's back at the helm of Team India after almost a decade. "Great to get a win. If we hadn't, we'd still be playing along and trying to improve. And that doesn't change."
"We still got to get better. It's a young team. A lot of these guys were in high school a few years ago. I know we want a quick turnaround, but this helps," he added. "This helps to get some confidence and encouragement to the players."
Pranav Prince starred with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals to tie the Asia Cup Qualifiers single-game record. The athletic guard also netted an efficiency of 32 following his all-around effort.
Kanwar Sadhu also contributed 17 points. Amjyot Singh supplied 15 points, while Sahaij Sekhon added 12 for India, who won the succeeding quarters a low-scoring affair in the first 10 minutes that saw them produce just half of their foes' 18.
The team shot 15 triples with a 42.9-percent accuracy, with the tandem of Sadhu and Sekhon combining for 8 as their shooting proved tough for the visiting side to cover.
Overall, Flemming's wards shot 45.0-percent from the floor, and that was thanks to the way they rotated the ball as evidenced by the 26 assists they finished with.
"I think everybody played very good today. I'm proud of everyone," said Muin Bek Hafeez. "Everybody did their part. We controlled the rebounds, especially. We played good defensively. The hard work we put in the last four months, you see the result."
After two windows, India now carry a 1-3 record while dragging the Steppen Wolves to 2-2, with the other blemish in their card a forfeiture of their supposed game against Iran scheduled last Friday at the Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran.
Vladimir Ivanov had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Kazakhstan, who actually took a slim lead in the second quarter through him until Singh and Prince connived for a mini run to give themselves a 37-33 advantage entering the break, never to look back.
Vadim Chsherback finished with 12 points, while Askar Maydekin and Shaim Kuanov chipped in 11 points in the defeat that saw them commit 19 turnovers.
FIBA