Sanchir Tungalag

Tungalagiin Sanchir (Тунгалагийн Санчир, born April 8, 1989) is a Mongolian professional basketball player.

He has played for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association.

He is considered to be one of the best Mongolian basketball players of today.

Before his stint with Ginebra, Sanchir played for Mon-Altius Madimos Falcons of the Mongolian National Basketball Association, the top basketball league in Mongolia.

In 2007, Sanchir received invitation to play for Otgontenger University, which had a strong basketball team.

Sanchir accepted the offer and started playing for Otgontenger.

Also at the same time, he began his semi-pro career with MBA's Tavan Tolgoi Trans Geiers under the leadership of Mongolian basketball coach Ts.

Tseverbal.

Tseverbal noticed Sanchir's potential when he played against his university team in the national championship.

Before Sanchir's sophomore year started, coach Tseverbal invited him to play for his team, Institute of Trade Industry Geiers and the young man accepted.

In his first year with the Geiers, they won the national college league title in 2008 and he was named the MVP.

Sanchir also led various college tournaments in scoring and the Geiers were unstoppable force in college basketball.

In his rookie season with the Tavan Tolgoi Trans Geiers, Sanchir, who was 18 years old then, barely saw an action and didn't contribute much to the team's success.

Geiers were also making its league debut and advanced all the way to the Finals but lost to the eventual champion Kharaagiin Khartsaguud.

Although was disappointed in his playing time, Sanchir began practicing harder than everyone during that summer and erased his own doubt in himself.

His effort paid off as coach Tseverbal made Sanchir a starter for the Geiers in 2008–09 season.

It was a break-out year for Sanchir as he led the league in scoring and rebounding.

Although his team didn't win a championship, Sanchir was named the Most Improved Player of the season.

Sanchir has also represented the Mongolian national team in various international basketball competitions since 2009.

In 2010, Sanchir accepted the offer to play for the Bayanzurkh Bulls, a newly established team of the MNBA.

In the 2011 MBA All-Star Game, Sanchir led all in scoring and his team to a win, and was named the game's MVP.

His popularity was growing fast.

In 2011–2012 season, Sanchir began playing for the fan-favorite SBL Khasiin Khuleguud, which won the National Title three times before.

Khuleguud advanced all the way to the Finals with Sanchir's scoring dominance and faced the Bulls, Sanchir's former team in the Finals.

They lost to the Bulls 4–2.

In 2013–14 season, SBL Khasiin Khuleguud again advanced to the Finals against Alliance Tech Hawks.

But this time, Sanchir wasn't going to accept the second place.

Khuleguud swept the Hawks in four games and Sanchir won his first championship in the top league.

Not surprisingly, Sanchir led everyone in scoring and was named the Finals Most Valuable Player.

The most recent in the 2014 Asian Games where he averaged 16.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game to lead the Mongolians to an 8th-place finish, its best finish ever in the tournament.

In 2014–15 season, Sanchir signed a two-year deal to play for the Mon-Altius Madimos Falcons and alongside American import Smush Parker, former Lakers point guard.

The duo played well together, but struggled due to poor coaching and management.

The Falcons finished the season in 4th place and advanced to the playoffs.

But in the first round, they lost to the #5 seed Tanan Garid.

On April 1, 2015, it was announced that Sanchir will be Barangay Ginebra's Asian reinforcement for the 2015 Governors' Cup.

In late May 2015, Barangay Ginebra announced that they will replace Sanchir with Korean guard Jiwan Kim as their Asian import.

Sanchir began playing basketball at a very young age and attended Bayangol District's High School #40.

His very first basketball coach was the school's physical education teacher Mendsaikhan.

Sanchir began going to coach Mendsaikhan's basketball training courses and fell in love with the sport.

In his 8th grade, he was accepted into the school's basketball team and won many local and national tournaments.