Four under-18 cagers from Ludhiana secure national call-up, to play in Europe.

Ludhiana: Coaches are backing their young charges to shock international heavyweights as city’s premier sports academy prepares its finest prospects for a historic European campaign.

Four elite teenage basketballers from the Ludhiana Basketball Academy have secured national selection to represent India at the upcoming ISF World School Basketball Championship in Serbia.

The Under-18 tournament, running from June 13 to June 22 in Zlatibor, will showcase the world’s premier emerging basketball talent. Ludhiana’s contingent features three female standouts — Gagandeep Kaur, Tishmeet Kaur, and Deepika Poonia — alongside solo male selection Shaurya Sachdeva.

A Golden Era for Local Coaching

The selection marks a major milestone for the Punjab sports department’s development pathway. The three female athletes progressed through the Punjab Institute of Sports (PIS) framework under the strict tutelage of state coach Saloni.

“All three athletes have trained under my guidance for the past four years,” Saloni said. “I am entirely confident they will perform at their absolute best on the world stage.”

On the men’s side, Shaurya Sachdeva secured his international berth under the development programme run by veteran academy coach Jaipal Bhullar.

“Earning national selection for a tournament of this caliber is a monumental achievement in itself,” Bhullar said. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for Shaurya to display his talent against the global elite.”

Praise From National Body

The continuous success of the Ludhiana development pipeline drew widespread praise from regional sporting executives. Punjab Basketball Association President R S Gill and general secretary Teja Singh Dhaliwal issued a joint statement congratulating the athletes and crediting the academy’s coaching infrastructure for consistently producing international-grade talent.