1st All India Basketball Tournament for Men (Rohtak)- Indian Railway & ONGC through to finals; Delhi Lt. Governor Shri Najeeb Jung special guest
Arjuna Awardee basketballer from Haryana Shri Om Prakash Sr. being felicitated by Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung.Rohtak, 5th August 2016: After the conclusion of the league stages yesterday, the 1st All India Basketball Tournament for Men, Rohtak witnessed semifinals action today at the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex in Sector 6. The tournament is being organised by the Basketball Club of Haryana (BCH) under the aegis of the Haryana State Basketball Association and the Basketball Federation of India.
Honourable Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Shri Najeeb Jung was the chief guest for the occasion and was greeted warmly by the organisers as well as all four participating teams. “I am very happy with the organisation of this event. A small group of people have made tremendous effort- raising money, getting teams to participate with such enthusiasm,” said Mr Jung. “I have played many sports. For my school I played football and table tennis, college I played cricket, when I joined services I played squash. Now I play golf on weekends.”
Explaining the positive contribution of sports in his personal and public life, he said, “The attitude, the understanding, a sense of camaraderie, a sense of toleration and the rivalries, all of that has helped improved me a great deal.”
Mr Jung also noted the achievements of Kiloi Village in Haryana, in terms of producing talented athletes from the state. Before departing, Mr Jung made time for the assembled media and also felicitated many attending dignitaries including Arjuna Awardee from Haryana Shri Om Prakash Sr, Master Surajmal Malik (longstanding grassroots coach) and Prof Dalbir Singh Kharab, Secretary of Haryana Basketball Association.
Also present as guest for the second semifinal match between ONGC & Indian Army was Mr Amit Kumar Gulia, Estate Officer, HUDA (Rohtak).
Indian Railway bt Income Tax, Chennai 89-63
Group A’s second placed team Income Tax, Chennai took on Group B’s top side Indian Railway in the first semifinal of the day.
Railway went on a huge initial run to lead 22-11, before Income Tax, Chennai went on their own 9-2 run to close out the first quarter trailing 20-24. The second quarter continued to be neck and neck, as Railway led 42-37 at the half. Like many matches before this, the third quarter proved decisive, as Railway’s deep bench allowed them to keep up the momentum on both ends of the floor. Income Tax, which features only 7 players, were unable to match Railway’s intensity. Railway outscored the tiring Income Tax, 47-26 to cruise into the semifinals with a 26 point victory.
Honey Shringi of Income Tax, Chennai won the man of the match prize which was presented by Arjuna Awardee from Haryana Shri Om Prakash Sr.
Indian Railway (Somveer 21, Gagan 20, Himanshu 16) bt Income Tax, Chennai (Akilan Pari 23, Raghuram 14) 89-63 [24-20, 18-17, 19-9, 28-17]
ONGC, Dehradun bt Indian Army 76-36
In what turned out to be the most lopsided match of the tournament, ONGC, Dehradun absolutely annihilated Indian Army. There was no doubt that ONGC was the favourites, but the easy of this victory took both teams and the crowd by surprise. ONGC took a 32-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and then it was a mere question of completing formalities, as they set up a much anticipated finals clash against Indian Railway.
Yadwinder Singh of ONGC received the man of the match award.
ONGC, Dehradun (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 20, Mohit Bhandari 14, Riyazuddin 13) bt Indian Army (Ramesh 7, Gopal Ram 6) 76-36 [32-5, 19-9, 18-12, 7-10]
Final League Standings
(top two teams from each group progress to the semis)
Final seeding Group A Group B 1 ONGC, Dehradun (3-0) Indian Railway (3-0) 2 Income Tax, Chennai (2-1) Indian Army (2-1) 3 Haryana (1-2) Punjab (1-2) 4 Indian Air Force (0-3) Basketball Club of Haryana (0-3)
About the 1st All India Basketball Tournament, Rohtak (Haryana)
There are 8 participating men’s club teams:
ONGC, Dehradun (Group A)
Indian Railways (Group B)
Punjab (Group B)
Indian Army (Group B)
Income Tax, Chennai (Group A)
Indian Air Force (Group A)
Haryana (Group A)
Basketball Club of Haryana (Group B)
The teams have been divided into two preliminary groups A and B. Matches are being played in a league cum knockout basis every day from 4pm to 10pm in the indoor hall of the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex in Rohtak. The top two teams from each Group progress to the semifinals, followed by the finals on 6th August.
This is a prize money tournament and the winning team will receive INR 1,00,000/- and a trophy while the runners up get INR 50,000/-. Additionally, every man of the match will be awarded INR 2100/- and the tournament most valuable player (MVP) will get INR 5100/-. Individual winners will also receive trophies, and additionally the MVP will be gifted a full Rido basketball set.
The tournament sponsors are Shiv Naresh, LPS Bossard, Kalinga University (Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh), Pahli Khabar, Desan International (‘Rido’), D2M Hotel, Disha and Scholars Rosary.
Stars playing and in attendance
The stars who are in action include current India internationals such as Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Amritpal Singh, Yadwinder Singh (ONGC), Haryana’s very own Joginder Singh (Indian Air Force), Akilan Pari and Rikin Pethani (Income Tax, Chennai). The former internationals include Trideep Rai, Riyazuddin, Mohit Bhandari, Anoop Mukkaniyil, Shabeer Ahamed, Riyazuddin and R Murali Krishna (all ONGC).
Arjuna awardees Shri Om Prakash Sr. and Shri Ajmer Singh will be in attendance throughout the event, as well as Dhyand Chand Awardees Shri Ram Kumar and Smt Aparna Ghosh.
About Basketball Club of Haryana (BCH)
The Basketball Club of Haryana was founded in August 2015 with the aim of promoting basketball in the state. The 25 founding members include many coaches, players and physios.
About Haryana Basketball
Haryana is an emerging basketball powerhouse in India. In the 2014-15 Senior National Basketball Championship held in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, the men’s team made a historic run to the semifinals after upsetting Punjab for the first time in history. The last few years has also seen the rise of guards Narender Grewal and Joginder Singh into the Senior Indian men’s team. They both hail from Bamla village in Bhiwani district. Subsequently, at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship guard Vikas Kumar (from Dablain village in Jind District) was selected in the senior Indian team. The current junior Indian team at the 24th FIBA Asia Championship for U18 Men featured two Haryana players- Deepak (Israna Tehsil in Panipat Dist.) and Sahil (Kalka Tehsil in Panchkula Dist.). At the youth (U16) level in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship there was one Haryana player each in the boys and girls sections: Ankit Joshi (from Faridabad) and Namrata Hooda (from Kiloi Khas village in Rohtak Dist.). At the national level, Haryana’s younger age group teams, both in the boys and girls, consistently finish among India’s elite Level 1 states.