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3rd July 2017: Three Keralites are there in the Indian women’s basketball team as they departed for the 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament, which is being played from July 5th to July 9th 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan. The William Jones Cup will serve as excellent competitive exposure for India ahead of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup to be held in Bengaluru from 23rd to 29th July.

The team is led by veteran Cager Anitha Paul Durai, from Tamil Nadu have from Kerala Jeena PS and Anjanna PG from Kerala State Electricity Board and Poojamol K S from Kottayam

The team is being coached by newly appointed Serbian Head Coach Zoran Visic, and Coach Shiba Maggon comprises, Kavitha Akula the Point Guard the First Indian women selected at the NCAA Barkha Sonkar who is now with IMG Acadamy in USA , Anmol Preet Kaur who is now in Japan other members include Raspreet Sidhu Delhi, Navaneetha P Uday Kumar, Rajapriyadharshini Rajaganapathi (both from Indian Railways ), JShireenLimaye from Maharastra, and the tallest 6ft 9inches Poonam Chaturvedi,

Ghana Puranik will be the team physiotherapist and Mr. Srinivasa Murthy will be the team manager. Maniraj Moses Henry will be the international referee from India officiating at the event.

The William Jones Cup is a basketball tournament that has been held annually in Taipei since 1977. The tournament was named in honor of Renato William Jones, who was one of the founders of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). One team represents each country, and that team could be the national team, a professional club, or a college team. The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format, and the final points tally will determine the placing of the teams.

Their first game is against New Zealand, on 5th July at 1500 hrs(local time). Their second game is against Japan, on 6th July at 1500 hrs. Their third game is against Korea, on 7th July at 1500 hrs. Their fourth game is against Republic of China -A, on 8th July at 1900 hrs. Their final game is against Republic of China -B, on 9th July at 1700 hrs. All their games will be played at the Changhua Gymnasium, Changhua County, Taiwan.

Last year, the South Korean team took the gold in the women’s tournament, while Japan and Chinese Taipei A finished second and third respectively.