About a decade and a half ago, five young small-town Indian girls – all sisters – saw a few boys shooting around on their local basketball court. The eldest rebelled against the social and cultural norms and joined the boys on the court. One by one, the other sisters followed. Neighbours chastised their mother for letting her daughters play the “boys’ game”. Onlookers complained that they would rather see the girls being sheltered than flaunting their hoop skills. Their father wondered what their future could be in this strange, unfamiliar game.
Undeterred by the outside noise, the girls played on. Their passion soon silenced all critics. All five sisters went on to dominate hoops in their city and state. Four of the five became stars for the Indian national team. One of them clinched the national record for most medals in National Basketball Championships.
We’re speaking, of course, of Varanasi’s ‘Singh Sisters’ – Priyanka, Divya, Prashanti, Akanksha, and Pratima – who shattered cultural stereotypes to become Indian basketball superstars. One of these sisters is Prashanti, who has won a record 22 medals for Delhi at the National Championships and is the only Indian player to represent the country in the Commonwealth Games, two Asian Games, and seven FIBA Asia Championships.
“We were young, and when we were first playing basketball, we didn’t realize that the whole society was against us,” Prashanti told me in a phone interview from New Delhi. “We had the support of our coach Amarjeet Singh and our mother, both of whom believed that girls could prosper in a sport like basketball just like boys. There were two or three girls, who were better than me when we were growing up, but they were forced to quit the game because of family or society pressure. People were offended that girls were wearing shorts and playing outside. We had no basketball role models, no clue what the future would hold. But fortunately, we were able to make it and do well for the national team.”
Prashanti said that the attitude towards her and her sisters began to change when she made it to India’s squad for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia. From that point on, the highs kept on coming: Prashanti followed elder sister Divya to become the captain of the women’s team and became one of the most capped players on the international stage.
Her most memorable moments came when she was able to provide match-wining performances for her country. She specifically remembers the 2011 FIBA ABC in Japan when she helped India defeat Malaysia to qualify for Level 1 of the tournament. Her personal highlight was the 35-point performance in India’s upset victory over Korea Samsung at the 2011 William Jones Cup in Taiwan. She also played a role in India’s best-ever FIBA ABC finish – fifth place at the ABC in Thailand in 2014 – in an overtime win over Kazakhstan.
“It’s not about the points I scored, it’s about being a match-winner,” said Prashanti, “That’s why these games were the biggest. I remember them because they brought improvement to the national team.”
In recent years, the rift between the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Indian government has caused some obstacles to the game. Prashanti was part of the squad chosen for the South Asian Games in Guwahati, but local troubles meant that FIBA had to de-recognise the event’s basketball tournament.
Despite the recent roadblock, Prashanti remained confident about the sport in India, and especially its scope for women.
“If the same effort is put in the women’s game in India as for the men, there will be much more success for us, because the competition is lesser worldwide,” said Prashanti, “In India, there are about twenty employers for men’s basketball and just two for women. If we add more domestic teams, we can definitely get a podium finish at FIBA ABCs. If there is a domestic league and more tournaments for women, then there will be more participation, and more quality will come forth.”
“The future is bright, but the system has to put in some effort. Basketball is a popular, global sport. If India can provide international level competition and professionalism, the women’s game here will skyrocket.”
You can follow the writer KARAN MADHOK on Twitter @Hoopistani.
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