NAGPUR:
Siya Deodhar
of
Shivaji Nagar Gymkhana
(SNG) has been named in the probable list of India players for the 5th
Fiba Asia U-16
Basketball Championship for women slated to be played at Bengaluru, Karnataka.
A student of BVM, Civil Lines, Siya is the only city cager to feature in the list of 20 probables picked by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) after the Youth National Basketball Championship held at Hyderabad last month.
If selected, the 14-year-old will become the youngest player to represent the country in the U-16 Asian meet organized under the aegis of the
World Basketball Federation
Fiba-Asia.
In the age-category national championship, BFI allows a player — despite being eligible as per age — to take part only twice. At 14, Siya is eligible to play in three U-16 national championships and by including her in 12-member state squad for the Hyderabad nationals, the
Maharashtra State Basketball Association
(MSBA) took a bold step and gave the deserving forward a chance to showcase her talent.
The first preparatory camp for the selected probable players will be held at the
Sports Authority of India
(SAI) Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from August 25 to September 2, informed Chander Mukhi Sharma, secretary general of the BFI. Apart from Siya, Aurangabad's
Khushi Dongre
is the only other state player in the probables' list.
A quick point-guard, Siya is also one of the best forwards in Maharashtra and had earlier played in U-12 Pacific International School Games festival at Melbourne, Australia, in November 2015. Representing Maharashtra in the U-14 school nationals at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, Siya is also a probable player for Asian school championship. Siya has also played in a handful of national championships including the sub-junior event of the BFI and U-14 schools championships.
Earlier in 2013, Mugdha Amraotkar had become only the second player from city to represent the country in the Fiba Asia U-16 Basketball championship at Sri Lanka. In the same year, Mugdha’s teammate Anushree Kaloti was included as India probable for the World Schools Basketball Championship but was forced to skip the event due to the clash of dates of her SSC examination and the international event.
Before Mugdha, Manjiri Mandpe was the only other city player who had the honour of representing India in Asian meet in 1990. And after a 23-year gap, Mugdha made the top grade, and after four years, Siya aims to become the youngest to don the national cap.
Siya is the daughter of Shreesh and Swati Deodhar and is being trained by Shatrughna Gokhale and Vinay Chikate.
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