It was a kind of unscheduled break from basketball activities for Jeena P S after she successfully led Kerala to the National Games basketball title. There was no big tournament around and it looked timely for such a move.
Yet she still leads the standing as the number one female hoopster in the country, and is presently the fifth in the Asian Point per Game ranking. “This is my best rank so far in the standing,” Jeena says
It was at the National Games that Jeena showcased one of the best performances in her career. “Jeena never stops scoring. It is extremely difficult for a player to keep consistency at this level. She is a real fighter,” her coach Antony Stephen had said then.Jeena was born at a remote village in Wayanad, a district which had no proper infrastructural facility for basketball until recently. Yet, it was from such a nondescript land that the star performer began her journey to become an indispensable part of the national squad.
“Through out all my playing years, I haven’t found a court in Wayanad. I haven’t seen many hoop fans or enthusiasts there,” says Jeena, who has so far represented the country in eight international tournaments, including two Asian Basketball Championships.
Basketball was not on her mind when the tall, chirpy lass moved to the Kerala State Sports Council’s Sports Division School in Kannur at the age of 12 as per the instruction of her teacher who thought her physique was apt for a career in athletics.
It was at the Sports Division that she made up her mind to play basketball, at the insistence of Sumana N, a basketball coach.
She joined Kerala State Electricity Board at the age of 18 and has played three Federation Cup tournaments with them.
Having represented the nation at the junior and youth levels, her first call up to the senior team came during the Asian Basketball Championship in 2013. “For five years now, I have been playing for the national team,” she adds.
With the inimitable Geethu Anna Jose - India’s most effective centre during the past decade - having hung up her boots, the team now looks up to Jeena to try and fill the huge responsibility. And the elegant shooter seems ready.