BENGALURU: At six feet, India’s Stephy Nixon stands tall amongst her compatriots on the court. She is also the eldest player (27 years) in the 12-member India squad at the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup. Barring Nixon, rest of the players were 25 or below against South Korea here on Wednesday.
With India’s average age being 23, it is the joint-youngest team alongside China. Seniors like Anitha Pauldurai (34) and Raspreet Sidhu (30), who were part of the team that helped attain Division A promotion, are not in the squad. It is fair to say that the team is undergoing a transitional phase. Though players like Anmolpreet Kaur (19) and Lopamudra Thimmaiah Kokkalera (21) only played for a combined 14 minutes, being part of such a world-class event will help them. India eventually lost 62-97 to Korea, but not without positives.
After a hapless performance in the opening match against Japan, they came up with an improved show. Shireen Vijay Limaye (14 points) took responsibility and showed her teammates how to attack with strong drive-ins. To the surprise of many, India outplayed Korea, World No 15, in the first ten minutes. They were 12-2 at one point and eventually ended the quarter with 22-20 lead.
However, things did not go according to plan for India in the second quarter as they were outscored 6-24. It was primarily due to Korea’s tight marking on Limaye, who could only attempt one field goal.
Korea’s ploy of setting and using a screen gave them a good shooting opportunity. And Korea made it count, more often than not in the second and third quarter, which helped them take 74-43 lead with 10 minutes left to play. India will next meet Chinese Taipei on Thursday.