19th Asian Championship will always be special…

In the year 2007, I was the coach of the junior women’s team of India for the 19thAsian Championship that was held in Bangkok. It was not the first international match as the coach. During the years 2000 to 2008, I was the Junior Indian team coach for six times. What remains etched on my memory is that the team performed so well that we finished fifth for the first time. We were placed in the lower pool. There were some good teams in our pool like, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan. We defeated all the teams in our pool and qualified for the next. With our entry into the next level, we now had to face tougher competition. We beat Thailand but could win the other matches. After many years we could secure our place in the best five teams. That match against Thailand has been the best moment of my coaching career.

Rajesh Patel
Former Basketball Player,
Founder Chhattisgarh Basketball Academy,
Joint Sec., BFI