FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2025: Indian women start with a solid win in Division 2

The Indian women's basketball team had a winning return to the Continental championships after four years, taking down Kazakhstan in the first match of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division-2 in Shenzhen, China, on Sunday.

Competing outside South Asia for the first time since the 2023 Asian Games, the team started sluggishly but then made an impressive comeback to secure an 85-68 victory against Kazakhstan.

Pushpa Senthil Kumar led India’s scoring charts with 23 points, sinking ten 2-pointers at an impressive 76.92% conversion rate. She got support from her teammates, Sreekala Rani and Sathya Krishnamurthi, who scored 15 points each.

Kazakhstan had a brilliant start to the game and were leading by a good 6 points after the first quarter (20-14), because of some regular fouls from Indian players, resulting in multiple free throws.

However, the Indian team bounced back very strongly. It dominated the next two quarters, winning both with 12 and 16-point margins, respectively, gaining a massive lead of 22 points before heading to the final quarter.

This lead was enough for India to secure a win despite a late surge from Kazakhstan, who won the final quarter by 21-16.

The Indian team will have to improve on their defensive play and the accuracy on 3-pointer throws when they face the tournament favourite and strong Chinese Taipei team in their second match tomorrow.