Akanksha Singh (born 7 September 1989 in Varanasi Uttar Pradesh) is an Indian basketball player and former captain of the India Women's National Basketball Team. She has played for the national team since 2004. She and her sisters, Divya, Prashanti, and Pratima are known as the "fantastic four" of the Indian women's basketballers, and are also known as the "''Singh Sisters"''.

Playing career

In 2003, Akanksha Singh made her debut in the Senior Nationals and played for the

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

team when she was just an 11th grader. In 2004, she followed her sisters' footsteps on the Delhi team. In 2010, Akanksha was awarded the Most Valuable Player in India's first professional basketball league, the MPBL. Her name was forever cemented in the Indian basketball history books as one of the first-ever top four players to achieve the "A Grade" from the

Basketball Federation of India The Basketball Federation of India is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India. The national teams are known as the Indian Cagers. History BFI is involved in organizing training camps and national tournaments, and preparing Ind ...

sponsored by IMG Reliance. She is often called the "small wonder" in basketball. She has been awarded Best Player in many national and state championships. In her captaincy at the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, she won a gold medal in the All India University basketball championship at

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Pratima Singh.

Personal life

Singh comes from a family of basketball players. She completed her undergraduate studies at

St. Stephen’s College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of Delhi University. It awards both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Established in 1881, it is one of the oldest liberal arts and sciences colleges in India. The college has an acceptance r ...

. Her sisters Divya, Prashanti, and Pratima have represented the Indian National Women's Basketball Team. Oldest among the sisters is Priyanka, who is a National Institute of Sports basketball coach. Her sister Divya worked with the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

basketball team. Her brother Vikrant Solanki is a football player In the

I-league The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

and Santosh Trophy competitions.

Awards and achievements

* Awarded as one of the best four ‘A grade players’ across the country in women's basketball in India * May 2010 - Most Valuable Player in first All India Mastan Basketball Professional League held at Mumbai, Maharashtra * May 2010 - Best Player Award in the league match in MBPL, Mumbai, Maharashtra * 2008 - Most Valuable Player in All India Inter University Basketball Tournament held at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh * 2008 - Best Player Award in

Lady Shri Ram College Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) is a constituent women's college, affiliated with the University of Delhi. History Established in 1956 in New Delhi by the late Lala Shri Ram in memory of his wife Phoolan Devi (Lady Shri Ram), the college bega ...

for Women, New Delhi * September 2006 - Best Player Award in XXXII St. Stephens College invitational basketball tournament held at St. Stephen's College, Delhi * September 2005 - Best Player Award in XXXI St. Stephens College invitational basketball tournament held at St. Stephens College, Delhi

International sporting achievements

* Asian Games 2014 Incheon, KOREA, 19 September to 4 October 2014 * 34th Williams Jones Cup invitational tournament 2012,

Miaoli county Miaoli is a county (Taiwan), county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is bordered by Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the north, Taichung to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the west. Miaoli is Regions of Taiwan, classified as "central Taiwan" by t ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

* 25th FIBA Asian Basketball Championship for senior women, 2011,

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

* 33rd William Jones Cup 2011, Hsinchuang Gymnasium,

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

* Asian Games 2010

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, 12 November to 27 November 2010 * 24th FIBA Asian Basketball Championship for Senior Women, 2009,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, India * 23rd

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

Asian Basketball Championship for Senior Women, 2007,

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

* 18th FIBA Asian Basketball Championship for Junior Women 2007,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, 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 estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

* 2nd FIBA Asian Basketball Championship for Young Women, 2006,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

* 17th FIBA Asian Basketball Championship for Junior Women, 2004,

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

* Indian Camp for 21st

Asian Basketball Championship for Senior Women, 2005, Qinhuangdao City,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Akanksha 1989 births Living people Sportswomen from Uttar Pradesh Indian women's basketball players Basketball players from Varanasi Basketball players at the 2010 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2014 Asian Games 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Asian Games basketball players for India Guards (basketball) Singh sisters