Colombo, Nov 22 (IANS): The Indian women's contingent that were part of the training-cum-preparation camp in Dongguan, China from Nov 13-21, will be playing their first game of the FIBA Asia Under-16 Basketball Championship against defending champions Japan here Saturday.

The tournament will begin with 12 teams divided into two groups (Level I and Level II). India have been placed in Level I group, based on their finish in the second edition of the Championship, alongside China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei.

India play China Sunday and Malaysia Monday before taking on Chinese Taipei and Korea in the next two days.

Head Coach T.D. Biju along with coach Abhay Chavan will be leading the Indian contingent under the guidance of head coach Francisco Garcia.

Chavan said, “Our payers are in good shape. The team has been undergoing a vigorous training programme under Garcia for over two months. They have shown tremendous improvement on the court during their exposure trip to China. We have worked on our team strategy with impetus on our defence.”