Dhaka Tigers win SAISA Basketball
Nafeessa Hossain
After hours and hours of practice and hard work, there comes a tournament where youshowcase your skills. Our tournament was SAISA (South Asia Inter-School Association) Girls Basketball, which was hosted by American International School of Bombay (ASB) recently. Seven teams from different cities in Asia, including Dhaka (Bangladesh), Chennai and Mumbai (India), Kathmandu (Nepal), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Muscat (Oman) and Amman (Jordan) competed for three days to win.
Id have to say, the one thing that makes the Dhaka Tigers of AISD (American International School Dhaka) stand out from everyone else is how valuable and talented each player is. Even with a team of 10 girls, one with a twisted ankle, two with possible concussions and four knee injuries, we were determined to win SAISABasketball twice in a row.
Day 1
My roommate and I could barely eat anything for breakfast because of how excited and nervous we were for the first day. Did I forget to mention that we had one out of the two first games of SAISA? Thats right. We were playing against the Junior Varsity team of Oman (TAISM Red). This meant extra pressure on us to keep up the champions reputation. ASB had two basketball courts set up: one inside their gym and one outside. Unfortunately, we were put outside. Through the polluted air, we defeated TAISM Red 39-8.
Thankfully, our second game that day was inside the gym against Chennai (AISC). The score was 38-9. Those first two games didnt matter much, except for getting points for our pool. The last game of the first day was against the home team, ASB. Everyone was cheering for ASB. Not a single cheer for the Dhaka Tigers. Through the first quarter of the game, one of our main players twisted her ankle (again). We tensed up for most of the game. However, by the 4th quarter, we started to catch up but simply were not fast enough. We lost by 3 points, 32-35.
Day 2
The quarterfinal against Jordan (JIS) was a game to remember. Both teams put up a fight until the very end. In the 4th quarter, we were losing 34-35. The last 9 seconds of the 4th quarter changed everything for us. JIS had possession of the ball. A Jordan player (#13) threw the ball across the court. I chased after the ball without thinking twice. With only 4 seconds left on the clock, I did a lay-up with a Jordan girl right behind me. The buzzer went off and the Dhaka Tigers won by one point: 37-36! We could not believe it. We really are the team that plays till the end. After an unbelievable game, we treated ourselves by going to a pizza place and a Starbucks nearby.
Day 3
I wake up, having mixed feelings as today is the last day of SAISA. We play Lincoln School in the semifinals. The same time around last year, we were playing Lincoln in the semifinals on their home court in Kathmandu. We went through to the finals, winning 37-23.
After stretching, we all sat down in our tent. Abinta Kabir (alumni of AISD) was an incredible basketball player and was extremely passionate about the sport. We told each other that we wanted to win not just for our school, but for her. To make her proud.
The finals were against our old friend, ASB. Not only were they the home team, but the team that defeated us during the pool games. On the other hand, its exhilarating to be playing against them again. The crowd being against us doesnt affect our performance. If anything, it improves our performance. We get this extra motivation to defeat the opposing team. Better yet, the home team!
The first two-quarters were 16 minutes of torment. We were head to head. As it came to half time, all I could hear was the crowd screaming Go Eagles! The one phrase I recall our coaches saying to us was: Second half is our half. And without a doubt, the second half was truly ours. As the final buzzer went off, we were crying with joy. We won SAISA Girls Basketball for the second time in a row, and we hoped that Abinta is proud as ever.
Photos: Courtesy
