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Ready to walk the ramp

Before any crucial match, S. Robinson takes a walk down memory lane, and to Taipei, for inspiration, says STAN RAYAN

PHOTO: MAHESH HARILAL

ACE SHOOTER Basketball international S. Robinson is ready for a new stage

The last time one saw him, a few years ago, he had a crew cut and appeared a bit shy.

Sozhasingarayer Robinson has come a long way. The country's most famous male basketballer now sports long locks, with streaks of gold that scream for attention, and looks more like an Egyptian prince of yore.

"I'm also into modelling now. The Carpe Diem agency was looking for somebody very tall a few weeks ago. That's how I got into it," says the six-foot, eight-inch star.

Robinson will be walking the ramp in a month or so. He will be in the spotlight and will experience the glitz and glamour of the fashion world. Along with him, Indian basketball too will get some attention, something that the sport desperately needs.

Despite players like Robinson and Geethu Anna Jose - now a big hit in Australia - throwing up hints about the sport's huge potential, the hoop game continues to live life on the quiet lane in the country.

Unlike other Asian countries like China, Korea, Japan, Iran and the Philippines, Indian basketball does not have a professional league. "We should have introduced it long ago. We have the potential, only thing, we need to get things going. It's all in our hands," says the Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank star during the Geojit Cup all-India tourney in Kochi.

Basketball is a game of giants. And Indians seem to lack the physique for the sport. But Robinson thinks differently. "When we play, we're not so strong physically but we play better mind games. We think better," says Robinson. That could have been the reason behind India's stunning victory over Asian giant South Korea in the FIBA Stankovic Cup in Taipei in late 2004. Robinson scored 36 points; nearly half the team's score in that match, with an amazing show that included fade away jumpers, finger-rolls and cool game-deciding free throws.

That match is still fresh on Robinson's mind. "That win was out of the blue. I don't think we had any special strategy for that match. Probably, we did not play under pressure because Korea is such a big team," says the 26-year-old. "Even now, whenever I play crucial matches, I look back at the best game of my life to make me confident. And always, I think of that game against Korea," says Robinson, a manager with the IOB. He played for two seasons in the Iranian League and got an offer to play for the Tall Blacks team of Oakland in New Zealand after the recent Commonwealth Games. "But I had stress fracture on my right leg and ankle strain on my left, so I couldn't go. In fact, I returned from the Commonwealth Games on a wheelchair."

Robinson is now mulling over an offer from Dubai and a return to Iran.

"In Iran, I was considered more of a power forward than a centre. And I improved my shooting considerably. We have a lot of players from the U.S. and Russia and the league virtually follows the American NBA system," said the former Asian Allstar.

Robinson, who was born in Pondicherry and brought up in Gujarat, took to basketball rather late, at 15. "I was a footballer, a forward at school. But since I couldn't get football shoes my size, I moved to basketball."

Watching Robinson dunking sends spectators into raptures. But not tournament organisers. One strong dunk from Robinson and the hoop came off in Kochi. It hadn't seen anything like that before!

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