Mangaluru: On Friday November 19, the Indian men’s basketball team won the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Championship 2021, defeating Bangladesh 106-41. India won the SABA title for the sixth time, having previously won the competition in 2002, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Shashank K. Rai from Mangaluru was one among the team members who got selected for India’s senior men’s basketball team for SABA Men Championship 2021.
Expressing the delight over the achievement, Jayashankar Rai, father of Shashank said, “We feel really proud of them for accomplishing such a great achievement. Playing for India is not a small thing. It is a big milestone in anyone’s life. We would like to thank the President of Basketball Federation of India K. Govinda Raj, the Mangaluru Basketball Club President Naveen Shetty and Head Coach Aditya Mahale and also the Karnataka Forest Department officials who have been a source of encouragement and support for Shashank. Without their support, it would not have been possible to achieve this.”
Presently Shashank is employed with Karnataka State Forest Department in Mangaluru.
The South Asia Basketball Association hosted the eighth edition of the SABA Championship (SABA).
Prior to the FIBA’s new Continental Cup qualification system in 2017, this competition served as a way for India to qualify for major FIBA events such as the FIBA Asia Championship and the FIBA Asia Cup.
