FIBA Asia Cup: India's track record at the Continental competition

Contributor
Yash Matange
FIBA Asia Cup: India's track record at the Continental competition image

The Indians have been a regular at the FIBA Asia Continental tournament, participating in all but two editions (1993, 1999) since 1965. 

Known as the Asian Basketball Championship (ABC) for its first 45 years until 2005, the FIBA Men's Asia Cup has been held in India just once - in 1981. 

In its initial years of participation, India was quite competitive. In fact, over a 16-year stretch from 1973 to 1989, the Indian team finished around or within the top half of the tournament's final standings in eight of the nine editions including an impressive and very significant fourth-place finish in 1975.

Since then, however, in 12 Asia Cups, they have managed the same feat just thrice (2001, 2003, 2015).

MORE: India's road to the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifying Tournament

In recent history, they have easily booked their berth at the Asia Cup by winning FIBA's South Asia sub-zone. However, following the introduction of FIBA's new competition system in 2017, their route to sealing their ticket for the Continental Championship got harder.

That said, here's a look at India's track record at the Asia Cups:

YearHostFinish (Total teams)
1960PhilippinesDid not participate
1963Chinese TaipeiDid not participate
1965Malaysia7th (10)
1967Korea6th (10)
1969Thailand5th (9)
1971Japan6th (9)
1973Philippines6th (12)
1975Thailand4th (13)
1977Malaysia7th (14)
1979Japan5th (13)
1981India5th (12)
1983Hong Kong6th (15)
1985Malaysia10th (15)
1987Thailand6th (15)
1989China6th (15)
1991Japan13th (18)
1993IndonesiaDid not participate
1995Korea13th (19)
1997Saudi Arabia11th (15)
1999JapanDid not participate
2001China8th (14)
2003China8th (16)
2005Qatar12th (16)
2007Japan15th (16)
2009China13th (16)
2011China14th (16)
2013Philippines11th (15)
2015China8th (16)
2017Lebanon14th (16)
2021(22)IndonesiaQualified

Some of the nation's worst finishes have come in recent years. In 2007, they finished second-to-last in a 16-team tournament while in 2011 and 2017, they finished 14th out of 16.

Best wins in Indian Basketball history

Although not under the official 'FIBA Asia Championship', a couple of India's most iconic and memorable victories have come in a continental tournament organised by FIBA that was called 'FIBA Asia Challenge'. 

In 2014, India stunned a powerhouse in China in Wuhan 65-58 behind a game-high 13 points apice by Pratham Singh and Amjyot Singh, while Vishesh Bhriguvanshi dished out a game-high seven assists. 

Two years later, in what would be the final FIBA Asia Challenge, they did it again. This time, they beat China 70-64 behind a 23-point, 14-rebound double-double from Amritpal Singh. 

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