New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS): The Delhi Leg of Elite Pro Basketball Wild Card Try-outs saw over 700 athletes participate making it the biggest-ever open try-outs for Basketball in India.
The 5-day event was a massive success. This league also forays into Ind'a's only Professional Basketball League in the 5x5 format.
The selection committee included Jagat Narayan Nehra and H. Parmeshwar, who are retired basketball coaches of the Sports Authority of India. The five-day tryouts focused on skills, drills and how the player adapts to playing with different teams and strategy.
On the last day, there was an exhibition match that saw star National players like Jagdeep Singh Bains, Abhishek Tyagi, Abhishek Rathi, Sunil Rathee, Manik Ohlan, Narender Rathee, Rachit, Akshay Adhana, Vikas Yadav, Himanshu Sharma, Abhyudaya Yadav, Vikas Mor, Vinod Rathee, Hansraj Hooda, Gaurav Ohlan, Ravinder Singh, Honey Shringi, Vikas Yadav, Sourav Bagga, Gajendra Singh, Deepak Malik, and Shiv Kumar Khatik taking the court.
Talking about the same, CEO of Elite Pro Basketball Pvt, Ltd. Sunny Bhandarkar said, "We are overwhelmed by the number of athletes who turned up for the wild card try-outs. We got to see some great talent showing up and this event validated our belief that we are heading in the right direction. Basketball as a sport has great potential to grow and we wanted to provide a platform for players to showcase their talents and skills. Our aim is to promote the game of Basketball in India."
Commenting on the same, retired basketball coach of Sports Authority of India H. Parmeshwar said, "The vision of Elite Pro Basketball is great, they are trying not only to promote the game in India but also give a platform to young athletes to make a career in Basketball. I have never seen try-outs happening at such a big stage."
Talking about the Try-outs, retired basketball coach of SAI, Jagat Narayan Nehra said, "India has good basketball players, we need to find them, nurture them, and make them into great basketball players, and I am so happy Elite Pro Basketball is doing that. A league like this will do wonders for the game in India."