BFI 97

I may call myself a die-hard basketball junkie now, but when I was a kid, I wanted to grow up and be Sachin Tendulkar. I wasn’t good at cricket, but I played it a lot because everyone I knew played cricket. From the grassy fields of my school to the concrete gullie behind my house, […]

As the final seconds ticked away in India’s Asian Games contest in Incheon (Korea) against the Philippines and an Indian loss was all but ensured, Indian swingman Pratham Singh suffered a nasty fall, hurting both his head and his back. As Pratham writhed in pain on court, a hush fell in the arena, and his […]

Hundreds of flies swarmed over the circular food tables inside the makeshift dining area at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi. The once-upon-a-time white tablecloth was spotted with brown curry stains. The food itself was oily and not very hygienic— questionable nutrition for anybody, leave alone promising national and international level basketball players. Coach Scott Flemming was already eating […]

As always, the women’s final was held first, a little bit earlier in the evening, before the prime-time crowds were expected to show up. Only a few of the other players, close friends, and some of the organizing officials sat through most of the game; looking around the arena, there were far more empty seats […]

The stage was set for a showdown when two opposing factions of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) called two separate Annual General Meetings (AGM) in two different cities on two different days. The purpose of both these meetings was to select a new executive committee – including a new BFI president – for the […]