Amjyot Singh

Amjyot Singh

Singh with the Indian national team in 2013
Personal information
Born (1992-01-27) January 27, 1992
Chandigarh, India
Nationality Indian
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 229 lb (104 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2014 / Undrafted
Playing career 2015–present
Position Forward
Number 27
Career history
2015–2016 Tokyo Excellence

Amjyot Singh Gill (Hindi: ज्योति सिंह गिल); born January 27, 1992) is an Indian professional basketball player who last played for the Tokyo Excellence of the B.League. At 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), he is primarily a forward and competes with India on the international stage. He played professionally for domestic teams before joining the Tokyo Excellence in Japan.

Early life and career

Singh was born on January 27, 1992 in Chandigarh, India. His mother was an athlete, and his father was a member of the India national basketball team.[1][2] But Amjyot started out by playing cricket, the most popular game in India, and he was mainly a bowler.[3][4] In high school, an injury prevented him from playing cricket for three months. During the time, Singh's interest of basketball grew, and his father and coach advised him to switch. He joined his high school team in 2007.[4][5] Singh said, "In all honesty, I didn't event know the rules of basketball or even thought of playing the sport ever."[3]

By 2008, Singh was promoted to the state team and the national under-16 team.[3][5] He also joined the prestigious Ludhiana Basketball Academy in Ludhiana, Punjab. The Punjab state-run academy has trained many of India's top players, such as Satnam Singh Bhamara, Amritpal Singh, and Jagdeep Singh.[5][6] In March 2011, the Ludhiana team was defeated by Punjab Police Jalandhar at the Shaheed-e-azam Bhagat Singh Punjab Games championship.[7]

International career

Singh represented India's national basketball team at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China where he recorded most minutes, points, rebounds and blocks for his team. He was the tournament's overall second best scorer.[8] Later on he went on to represent India at the 2016 Williams Jones Invitational Cup[9] followed by the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge. Singh is also the first Indian national to participate in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Finals. In 2016, he starred in the FIBA Asia Challenge, where he averaged 12.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.6 blocks. He led the tournament in free-throw percentage.[10]

References

  1. ↑ R., Gopalakrishnan (December 8, 2014). "Amjyot Singh Gill- The Sultan of Swat". Ekalavyas. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ Raymond, Jonathan (October 30, 2016). "Amjyot Singh: India's globetrotting basketball star with sights on the NBA D-League". The National. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Basu, Suromitro (September 10, 2015). "Amjyot Singh: The meteoric rise of Indian basketball's future superstar". Yahoo! Cricket. Sportskeeda. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Siwach, Vinay (October 1, 2015). "Amjyot Singh–The cager who wanted to bowl fast". The Indian Express. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Madhok, Karan (October 14, 2015). "Ascent of Amjyot: Amjyot Singh's rapid journey to become the superstar that Indian basketball desperately needed". Ekalavyas. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ Duggal, Saurabh (June 29, 2015). "Dirty picture: A peek into the academy where Satnam got training". Hindustan Times. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  7. ↑ Datt, Anil (March 5, 2011). "Ludhiana girls win gold". The Tribune. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  8. ↑ 2015 FIBA Asia Championship – Amjyot Singh's profile, FIBA.com, accessed 11 Feb 2016.
  9. ↑ User, Super. "Basketball Federation of India - 38th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament 2016". basketballfederationindia.org. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  10. ↑ User, Super. "Basketball Federation of India - After reaching top 7 in Asia, BFI President announces cash prize to Indian men's basketball team; India's 'Big Three' among Asia's Best". basketballfederationindia.org. Retrieved 2016-10-27.

External links

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