NBA India Games 2019: 5-Day NBA Academy India Women's Camp tips-off in Mumbai

Yash Matange

NBA India Games 2019: 5-Day NBA Academy India Women's Camp tips-off in Mumbai image

The third NBA Academies Women's Program camp in India tipped-off today (October 2nd) at the American School of Bombay, Mumbai. 

The camp, which is one of multiple grassroots community programs conducted by the NBA in the lead-up to the first-ever NBA India Games, includes 18 of the top female prospects from across the country. 

The two previous editions of the NBA Academy India Women's camps were conducted in May 2018 and January 2019 at the NBA Academy India premises - Jaypee Greens Integrated Sports Complex in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). 

Prior to Day 1 of the camp, the campers reunited yesterday (on October 1):

The five-day camp will be hosted by WNBA legends - Jenniffer Azzi, a Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, and Ebony Hoffman. Also present at the camp will be former college coach Blair Hardiek.

Here's a look at the 18 girls invited to the camp: 

Player Position
Ann Mary Zachariah Forward
Suzanne Pinto Forward
Alaikaa Gupta Guard
Bhumika Kailas Sarje Guard
Kritika Dhingra Point Guard
Kashvi Khandelwal Guard
Kavya Singla Forward
Rajvi Desai Guard
Shruti Bhosale Point Guard
Siya Deodhar Point Guard
Gunjan Rahul Center
Harsimran Kaur Forward
Muskan Singh Guard
Shaily Upadhyay Point Guard
Maahi Shetty Point Guard
Manmeet Kaur Point Guard
Shomira Bidaye Forward
Grishma Niranjan Point Guard

A few of these campers have already made a name for themselves on the global stage. 

Grishma Niranjan was named the MVP of the second NBA Academy Women's Camp. Less than a month after that, she was invited to be a part of the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp during the 2019 All-Star Weekend.

Ann Mary Zachariah, Harsimran Kaur and Siya Deodhar were three of four girls invited to the NCAA's Next Generation program at the Women's Final Four in Tampa this past April. Out of these three, the duo of Harsimran Kaur and Siya Deodhar went on to receive invitations to the Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp in Tokyo recently. After that, Kaur went on to represent India in Malaysia for the FIBA 3X3 U18 Asia Cup 2019.

Shomira Bidaye, Muskan Singh, Bhumika Kailas Sarje and Manmeet Kaur were a member of India's squad to the Jr. NBA Global Championship 2019 held in Orlando, Florida this past August. 

For more updates and stories on the NBA India Games 2019, you can follow NBA.com's page dedicated to the historic event.

Yash Matange

Yash Matange Photo