Anitha Paul Durai-led Indian women's basketball team is on fire at the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2017. Playing in front of home crowd at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, India has topped Group A of Division B and has given itself a good chance to go the distance.
India will now take on Fiji, who finished last in Group B after losing all the games so far in the tournament. Notably, the team from Oceania region are featuring in its first Women's Asia Cup campaign.
Coming into the tournament with an eye on getting back to Division A, from which they were relegated after a poor show at 2015 Women's Asia Cup, the Indian unit decimated Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka to sit on top of Group A with four points from two games.
Road to quarter-final
On the opening day of the tournament, July 23, the division favourites comfortably dispatched lower-ranked Uzbekistan 92-76 as Anitha led from the front with a match high of 28 points.
On Tuesday, India humbled group minnows Sri Lanka 88-42, after Grima Merlin Varghese led the show with 19 points.
Easy quarter-final outing for India?
India are expected to ease into the quarterfinal, given Fiji's poor run in the ongoing tournament. The Oceania team were crushed by Singapore 103-38 in their first match, after which they succumbed to a 90-48 defeat against Lebanon.
However, Fiji put on an improved performance on Tuesday against the second highest-ranked team in the division, Kazakhstan. However, even a surge in the last two quarters did not prevent a 71-48 loss.
Fiji will need a mammoth effort to even test India, who will be backed by home support as well. Having avoided a possible semifinal meet against Kazakhstan as well, Anitha's side has a good chance to go the distance in the ongoing tournament.
Notably, the winner of the clash between Fiji and India will take on the winner of today's quarter-final between Sri Lanka and Lebanon in the semi-final on Friday, July 28.
