Madikeri: Power Forward from Kodagu Navaneetha Pattemane Udayakumar will be a part of the Indian team in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Basketball Tournament, scheduled to commence in Amman, Jordan, on Sept. 27.

The Indian team is placed in ‘Group A’ alongside Japan, Korea and New Zealand and the Indian squad will be led by Shireen Limaye. The squad comprises Shireen Limaye (captain), Madhu Kumari, Sruthi Arvind, S. Pushpa, P.U. Navaneetha, S. Sathiya, M. Nishanthi, Vaishnavi Yadav, Sreekala Rani, Anumaria, Stephy Nixon and S.M. Sahana. 

Standing 5-foot-10 inches tall, Navaneetha has been an outstanding performer in women’s basketball in the country. She has represented India in the FIBA Asia Women’s Basketball Championships and is employed with South Western Railways (SWR), Mysuru.

Before joining SWR, Navaneetha was  trained at the DYES Sports Hostel, Mysuru. She is the recipient of the prestigious ‘Ekalavya Award’ and Karnataka Olympic Association (KOA) Award for her feats in the sport. 

Navaneetha is the daughter of P.P. Udayakumar and P.U. Girija, who are residents at Suntikoppa, Kodagu. She married K.M. Adarsh from Mysuru this year, who is serving in the Indian Army.

Initially encouraged by her parents, Navaneetha joined Sports School, Vidyanagar, and later on joined Sports Hostel, Mysuru, in 2006. Initially, she was coached by B.S. Girish, SAK Basketball coach and DYES & SAK Basketball coach M.B. Patil at DYES, Mysuru.

A forward, Navaneetha is an attacking player and impresses with her skilful play. She began her career by representing Karnataka in the School Nationals held at Punjab in 2008 and from then on, has never looked back. She has represented the State in the Women’s Nationals, Youth Nationals from 2009 till 2010 and in 2011, she represented the State in the Senior and Junior Nationals in Delhi.

She represented the Mysore University in the Inter-University Championships in 2011-12 at Kannur and has been a regular in the team from then on. In 2009-10, her excellent play in the Nationals earned her the Indian cap when she donned Indian colours in the 1st FIBA Asia U-16 Championships held in Pune. She also took part in the NBA All India Tournament held at Delhi in 2001-12. She took part in the Junior Indian and Youth Indian camp held at Delhi and Tamil Nadu.