Falcons, Belent make an interesting study for development!

KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran’s AsiaScope) - The case of Turkmenistan and Mongolia in the context of development of basketball is different, and interesting. The two nations are certainly not powerhouses even within their regions in the sport, but their participation in events of two starkly contrasting kind - in less than a year - makes an interesting, even if not unique, study point.

Mongolia and Turkmenistan shot into limelight when teams from the two countries made it to the medal round in the 3rd Asian Beach Games in Haiyang in June this year. Turkmenistan lost to Afghanistan in the men's gold medal game and Mongolia won the bronze, in the 3x3 format of the event, the first time either team finished on the podium for a basketball event.

The other end of this development story is the participation of the club teams from Mongolia and Turkmenistan in FIBA Asia's premier event for club - the ongoing 23rd FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Beirut.

Now, normally the culture of clubs and club teams is a direct derivative of the strength and depth of a National Team, but in the case of Mongolia and Turkmenistan the pyramid - albeit as interesting - seems inverted.

For the record, the presence of Falcons of Mongolia and Belent Asgabat of Turkmenistan is the first instance any team - at all levels - from either of these countries has travelled to play in a FIBA Asia event. (Mongolia made their debut in a FIBA Asia event earlier this year, when they hosted the 22nd FIBA Asia U18 Championship in Ulaanbaatar).

The composition of the two teams makes it even more interesting. In an event, which has traditionally been a showcase of strength of the teams to invest in players from foreign origin and their abilities to carry the team along, both Falcons and Belent have arrived with very little in way of import players. In fact Falcons have none, and both the imports for Belent are from neighboring Uzbekistan - more in a gesture of regional cooperation.

On the face of it, all the other three teams Belent and Falcons play against are more experienced and better equipped.

"But then we are here to learn and gain experience," says Belent coach Ridvan Velishayev after the team lost to Al Riyadi.

"It's not about if we are playing against better teams or not. It's about getting ourselves better by playing against such teams," said coach Amarjargal Misha of Falcons.

"We are willing to take a couple of beatings in order to get better. We are here to gain for the long-term," he added.

The combination and permutation of this development matrix looks unique - combining the success in 3x3 and the exposure at a much higher level of professional basketball. This probably is one of the ways forward for Mongolia and Turkmenistan. You never know which method works in what situation.

So long…

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

FIBA’s columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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