Gulam Abbas Moontasir (7 January 1942 – 15 November 2022) was an Indian professional basketball player.

Early life

Born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, he was introduced to basketball by an American missionary at the age of nine at the courts at

Nagpada Nagpada is a neighbourhood in South Mumbai. The place derives its name from a local Shiva temple, and abode of Naag or the snake wound around Shiva's neck. It has a community basketball court. In 2005, Nagpada was the location of the Sadaf ...

in central Mumbai. He studied at Mumbai's Antonio D'Souza School and D.G. Ruparel College.

Career

Moontasir played for his school, college,

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

and the Maharashtra State, in turn. He made his international debut in an exhibition match against Australia in Mumbai in 1960. He represented India in the quadrangular in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

in 1964 and captained the Indian side in the

Asian Basketball Championship The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania. Through the 2015 edition, the tourn ...

held in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

in 1969 and 1975. Moontasir was also member of the Indian team that participated in the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok and took part in the 10th Anniversary confederation Tournament in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. He was chosen for the Asian All-Star team in 1970. By the age of 22, Moontasir had become the top player in the country's history. On international tours, he learned of different styles of play and recognized that the game needed to play in order for India to compete internationally. He identified three main problems: a stilted, outdated method of play, "ridiculous" refereeing, in which the referees officiated from their seats on the sidelines, and constant bickering by the governing authorities of the BFI. His attempts to bring the game forward were not well received by the authorities, who suspended him for three years. In 1970, he became the first Indian basketball player to received the Arjuna Award in 1970 for his achievement in national sport. He played his last national level match at the age of 44 when he represented the Railways in the Federation Cup in 1986. Moontasir also authored the book ''Principles of Basketball''.

Films

Moontasir also played a role in several movies, including the 1981 film '' Khoon Ki Takkar'' and in the 1986 film Aashiana.

References

External links

1942 births 2022 deaths Indian men's basketball players Sportspeople from Mumbai Basketball players from Maharashtra Recipients of the Arjuna Award Basketball players at the 1970 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India {{India-basketball-bio-stub