The South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Zone Qualifying Round of the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 will be held from July 6 to 8 at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. The three-day competition will be played on a round robin league format. Four South Asian teams – defending champions and hosts India, Nepal, Bangladesh and the island nation of Maldives are in the fray.

India’s training camp had begun at Kanteerava on June 22 with 30 players, and the final selections were made on June 26. The experienced Indian charge will be captained by centre Amritpal Singh, returning from winning the National Basketball Developmental League (NBDL) Championship with Toyko Excellence in Japan.

Did You Know?

• Canadian James Naismith (1861–1939)—a physical education teacher from Springfield, MA—invented the game of basketball in 1891 when he was looking for ways to keep his gym class busy on a rainy day.
• The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged on August 5, 1976, creating the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball Amateur) is the organization that governs basketball’s international competition.
• The best-selling basketball shoe of all time is Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan. Because they were initially banned by the NBA, Michael Jordan was fined for wearing them. He kept wearing them and merely paid the fine each game. Eventually, the NBA dropped the rule.