Sri Lanka create major upset in basketball Asia Cup

Sri Lanka’s basketball team created a major upset when they beat one of sport’s powerhouses – Korea – in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup played in Singapore yesterday.The young Sri Lankan team were total outsiders against Korea, who are a strong side in the region. The Koreans outmatched the Sri Lankans with their height and were off to a blistering start taking an early lead.

However, the Sri Lankans hung in there, shot and drove to the basket with determination and more importantly converted the free throws to create the biggest upset in the tournament.

With the clock ticking in the final moments, Pawan Gamage’s explosive drive to the basket made the Korean defence collapse and smartly, he offloaded the ball to Dasun Nilantha, who executed a jump shot from short corner to give Sri Lanka a hard fought 21-19 win.

While Sri Lanka progressed to the last 12 and are one step away from a quarter-final slot, big brother India were knocked out of the competition after a shock defeat to Malaysia.

Sri Lanka will compete alongside Mongolia and Thailand today as the only South Asian nation to qualify for the final round.

Sri Lanka have remained unbeaten in the competition having won all three of their games. Their first win came against another strong side – Indonesia, whom they beat 21-14.

The game against Mongolia will be worked off today (Friday) at 12:10 pm Sri Lanka time while the Thailand fixture is at 6:05 pm.

The condensed format of the sport is somewhere the national team has made huge strides over the years and with more backing from Sri Lanka Basketball Federation and Ministry of Sports, the team could go on to do wonders.

The 3×3 arm of local basketball is a well-organized unit with regular events. International exposure for the team could help them to reach new heights.

The Sri Lankan 3×3 team represents several parts of the country showcasing how much the talent is spread around the country. While Rukshan Atapattu and Pawan Gamage are from Colombo, Simron Yoganathan is from Jaffna and Dasun Nilantha hails from Ambalangoda.

While Atapattu is an undergraduate at the University of Moratuwa, Gamage is attached to Sri Lanka Army. Yoganathan is employed at Commercial Credit while Dasun is with the Ministry of Education.

Tharindu Fernando is the coach of the team.The Sri Lankan team has been sponsored by Vaaj Group for the last three years. The team is also training at Vaaj Fitness Center in Nawala.