NAGPUR: It's official. The Indian men's basketball team will compete in the Asia Cup for the tenth time in a row.
The South Asian giants, ranked 78 in the world, qualified for the continental event after hosts Saudi Arabia sent Palestine packing on Sunday with a facile 96-72 win in the final game of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers held in Jeddah.
After a not-so-satisfactory show from the Indian team, the fate of their qualification for the 16-team Asia Cup to be played in Indonesia in July next year rested on the Saudi Arabia-Palestine game. After losing their tournament opener to the hosts 61-80, India rallied remarkably to get past Palestine 79-77 on Saturday.
The 19-point defeat against Saudi Arabia would have been enough for India to miss the Asia Cup berth - for the first time since 2001 - had Palestine won the last qualifying game by three points or more. The Palestinian team would have then marched ahead.
But the home team maintained an all-win record with a comfortable 24-point triumph over Palestine.
With Saudi Arabia finishing the event on top of the table, India booked their qualifying berth at the second spot. For the first time since 2013, Saudi Arabia too qualified for the continental event.
While all members of the Indian contingent reached New Delhi and Bengaluru on Sunday evening, they were glued to their respective gadgets for updates of the final qualifying game.
