After a disappointing few days for Indian basketball, the women cagers finally had reason to smile after they beat Mongolia to set up a fifth-place play-off against Kazakhstan in the 17th Asian Games here today.
Playing for pride at the Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium, the women's team outplayed its Mongolian counterpart 68-50 after taking a lead from the first quarter itself.
The Smruthi Radhakrishan-led side covered all bases from the start and kept increasing the lead as they progressed.
Indian coach Francisco Javier Garcia Alvarez was seen celebrating the win with assistant Divya Singh but a tougher test lies ahead.
In an earlier match at the Samsan World Gymnasium, Kazakhstan got past Thailand 62-49 after trailing in the first quarter.
Thailand and Mongolia will clash in the 7th-place play-off.
The Indian men's team had crashed out of the Asiad after losing to Iran in a preliminary round match on Wednesday.
