FIBA 3*3 Asia Cup: Indian men's team qualify for the main draw after 2 years

Indian men's 3*3 basketball team has advanced to the main draw of the 2025 FIBA 3*3 Asia Cup, securing a dominating win (21-11) over the Philippines in the final group game in Singapore on Thursday.

Indian men won all three of their qualifying group stage matches to top the group amongst two higher ranked teams and return to the main draw of the Asia Cup after missing out for the same last year.

The 'Harsh Dagar Show'

Philippines, ranked 37th in the world, started positively and found some easy layoffs, but then the Indian defense showed some excellent teamwork in their defense using one-on-one marking.

Pranav Prince was the star man as he used his reach brilliantly to not only stop the attack of the opposing team but also made a few interceptions to assist his teammate.

Youngster Harsh Dagar (10) was the leading scorer for India again. He scored 10+ points in all three matches and scored more than fifty percent (34/63) of the team's points in the completion thus far.

The Indian team will now move on to group B of the main draw alongside former medalist China and Chinese Taipei. The top two teams from the group will advance to the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, the Indian women's team lost their second consecutive match and went down (13-17) against Chinese Taipei in the second group match, ending the team's campaign at the qualifying draw of the competiton.