Jamshedpur, April 23: Jamshedpur-based basketball mentor J.P. Singh (in picture) has added another feather to his cap. The Basketball Federation of India has appointed the 62-year-old Singh as the coach of India Under-18 men's team for Asian Basketball Championship in Bangladesh. Before heading to Bangladesh, a national camp will be held at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Pondicherry from May 9 to 24.

"I am glad to be appointed coach of the national side. After the Bangladesh tour, the BFI will conduct another camp before the team heads to Iran for the Asian Meet to be held in July," Singh saidover phone from Baroda (Gujarat).

The highly experienced mentor is associated with the Sports Authority of Gujarat as an expert coach.

Significantly, whenever Singh had been appointed coach of India, the team has performed well. Before his stint in Gujarat, he worked as a consultant with the elite National Basketball Academy (NBA) in Indore.

A resident of Sonari, Singh has also been the coach of the country's junior and senior teams. It was during his coaching tenure that the senior outfit went on to win the Golden Eagle Basketball Championship held in Chennai in 1997.

He was also the head coach of the senior men's outfit in 2004. The BFI had also sent him to Dhaka with an assignment to train Bangladeshi cagers in 2000.

Singh, who retired from Tata Steel sports wing in January 2014, has been instrumental in producing several cagers during his stint as the chief mentor of Tata Steel Basketball Training Centre.

He also had a brief stint as head of sports and games with Ranchi-based Sapphire International School. He is the vice-president of Jharkhand State Basketball Association (JSBA).

Expressing happiness, JSBA secretary Harbhajan Sngh said it was a proud moment for the entire state. "Singh is an experienced hand who will guide the national squad with aplomb," he added.