Net gain and some pain: Indian Basketball player Aaron Monteiro’s India debut cut short

The last two weeks have been a rollercoaster for India basketball player Aaron Monteiro who resides in Vashirsquos sector 9AThe 28yearold point guard who received his maiden callup for the India team participating in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers and subsequently made his debut in the 7399 loss to Qatar on February 28 is going through mixed feelings at the momentHad it not been for the USIsraeli airstrikes on Iran and the latterrsquos counterattacks across US bases in West Asia Monteiro might have added another international cap to his name against LebanonHowever despite the loss to Qatar and being holed up in Doha until March 10 Monteiro has only fond memories of his relatively short debut he was on court for 4 minutes and 44 seconds as it gave him the conviction that he belongs on the biggest stageScored a twopoint goalldquoMy debut was a really good experience My biggest takeaway was that I can play at that level I felt I also learnt where Irsquom lacking and now itrsquos all about polishing my weaknessesrdquo Monteiro who also scored a twopoint field goal against Qatar told middayIndiarsquos Aaron Monteiro extreme left attempts a threepointer during a practice match in Dubai recently PicsBy Special ArrangementMonteiro took to the sport at the age of five thanks to his dad Stanney mdash a basketball player himself mdash who took him to YMCA Chembur to get a feel for the game Stanney himself got a callup to the national team camp but never won a cap for IndiaMonteiro Jr fell in love with the sport right from the get go and began playing at his school Fr Agnel Multipurpose school in Vashi from the second grade onwards He still trains there By the age of 13 he believed he could make a career out of itldquoMy love for the sport began as soon as I started playing it My journey has been quite fun Irsquove represented teams at multiple levels school district state national and now finally at the international levelrdquo explained MonteiroReflecting on his Team India callup Monteiro who plays for Karnataka at the domestic level thanks to his performances for Bengalurursquos Jain University where he did his Masterrsquos degree said it did not come as a surpriselsquoI was expecting the calluprsquoldquoI was expecting the India callup based on my performance at the 75th Senior National Basketball Championship in Chennai in Januaryrdquo said Monteiro who led the tournament charts for having the highest threepoint percentage in the tournament 50 per cent and second highest field goal percentage 54 per centAlthough India are currently at the bottom of Group D in the qualifiers having lost all three games so far twice to Saudi Arabia Monteiro is confident that brighter days lie aheadldquoWe have a young team but wersquore on the path to do better in the coming years as we get more experiencerdquo concluded Monteiro50Aaron Monteirorsquos threepointer conversion percentage at the Senior National Basketball Crsquoship recently mdash the highest54Aaron Monteirorsquos field goal conversion percentage at the Senior National Basketball Crsquoship recently mdash the second highest7399Scoreline of Indiarsquos defeat to Qatar4 mins 44 secsTime spent by Indiarsquos Aaron Monteiro on court during the match against Qatar at the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers recentlyFiveThe age when Aaron Monteiro started playing basketball