32nd Youth National Basketball Championship: Chhattisgarh girls win back-to-back on Day 3
Uttarakhand player (in red) attempts a free-throw against Himachal Pradesh
Bhavnagar, Gujarat, 16th September 2015: The last few games held after 7:30 p.m. yesterday on Day 2 of the 32nd Youth National Basketball Championship in Bhavnagar, Gujarat provided some quality basketball action. The Uttarakhand boys faced Himachal Pradesh in their Level 2 game. The evenly matched contest went down to the wire and Uttarakhand pulled off a thrilling victory by 1 point 67-66. Vaibhav Choudhary led the Uttarakhand team in scoring with 28 points. Punjab girls played their first match of the tournament and comfortably defeated Madhya Pradesh 69-45, thanks to the inside play of Rajandeep Kaur and the impressive 3-point shooting of Lovepreet Kaur.
Tamil Nadu captain P. Baladhaneshwar (in white) lays the ball in against Delhi
Today on Day 3, the games in the morning session were packed with strong teams. The Tamil Nadu boys continued their surge with another victory, this time against Delhi. TN captain P. Baladhaneshwar again showed his MVP-calibre with 25 points, leading all scorers. The ease of the victory enabled Tamil Nadu to showcase their bench strength in the game.
Punjab player (in blue) finishes at the rim against Kerala
The other Level 1 boys’ games were also one-sided affairs, as Punjab handily beat last year’s runners up Kerala. Sahil and Kanwar Gurbaz Singh from Punjab had good games for their team with 22 and 18 points respectively. The Haryana boys picked up their second victory of the tournament defeating a comparatively undersized Maharashtra team. Chhattisgarh boys fell to the Uttar Pradesh team that registered a 59-39 victory. The play of the UP boys has been one of the surprises of the tournament so far.
Chhattisgarh player (in green) shoots against Kerala
In the Level 1 girls’ games on Day 3 morning, the Maharashtra girls registered their second victory of the tournament against the Punjab team by an impressive 32-point margin. Shruti Vasant Sherigar and Neha Shanu were joint top scorers for Maharashtra with 18 points each. In the other game, Chhattisgarh stuck to their fast paced style of play and picked up a 53-44 victory against last year’s runners up Kerala girls. Chhattisgarh was led by Gulabsha Ali’s 21 points.
In the second half of the day, the Chhattisgarh girls played another game against Karnataka. Gulabsha Ali top scored for her team yet again with 27 points and Chhattisgarh ended up with a comfortable 47-24 victory. The Chandigarh girls also handily defeated their opponent Rajasthan 36 to 15.
Kerala player (in white) attempts a free-throw against Maharashtra
In the boys’ games, Kerala faced Maharashtra in a cracker of a contest. Both teams went back-and-forth and the game saw multiple lead changes. In the end, Kerala held on for a 1-point victory 59 to 58. The Chhattisgarh boys faced neighbours Madhya Pradesh and displayed strong defense in the paint coupled with strong drives to the basket. Led by guard Vinod Rajak, Chhattisgarh bounced back from the morning loss to register a 51-32 victory.
Chhattisgarh player (in light blue) attempts a jumpshot against Madhya Pradesh
Results from Day 2 after 7:30 p.m.
Girls:
Level 1:
Group A:
Punjab (Rajandeep Kaur 27, Lovepreet Kaur 24) bt Madhya Pradesh (Divyani Gangwal 26) 69-45 (14-12, 19-12, 24-17, 12-4)
Boys:
Level 2:
Group E:
Uttarakhand (Vaibhav Choudhary 28, Prakhar Sharma 17, Dheeraj Negi 15) bt Himachal Pradesh (Ankush 18, Jatin Sood 14, Saksham Verma 14) 67-66 (21-16, 18-16, 12-16, 16-18)
Group F:
Chandigarh (Amit 20, Sandeep 14, Sachin 10) bt Bihar (Raunk Kumar 8) 55-21 (15-10, 24-6, 10-2, 6-3)
Results from Day 3 up to 7:30 p.m.
Girls:
Level 1:
Group A:
Maharashtra (Shruti Vasant Sherigar 18, Neha Shanu 18) bt Punjab (Rajandeep Kaur 10, Lovepreet Kaur 9) 67-35 (26-7, 6-12, 20-12, 15-4)
Group B:
Chhattisgarh (Gulabsha Ali 21, Jyoti Kumari 17) bt Kerala (Adhikanop 17, Sylvia Grace Shiboo 11, Reyna K. 8) 53-44 (10-13, 11-10, 9-6, 23-15)
Chhattisgarh (Gulabsha Ali 27, Jyoti Kumari 8) bt Karnataka (Aastha 8) 47-24 (12-4, 19-6, 5-3, 11-11)
Level 2:
Group C:
Himachal Pradesh (Muskan 11, Pallavi N. 8) bt Jammu and Kashmir (Ishita 9) 45-21 (11-0, 11-9, 11-3, 12-9)
Group D:
West Bengal (Paramita Ghosh 24, Mala Arong 14) bt Puducherry (Sandhya 14, Aiswarya 7) 54-33 (15-14, 16-5, 9-9, 14-5)
Group E:
Chandigarh (Amrit 16, Palak 10) bt Rajasthan (Usha Acharaj 7, Himanshi 6) 36-15 (10-7, 8-2, 8-2, 10-4)
Boys:
Level 1:
Group A:
Tamil Nadu (P. Baladhaneshwar 25, C. Joshua Rozario 16, K. Ajith Kumar 12) bt Delhi (Hansraj 20, Sorav 11, Manik 9) 76-60 (24-10, 9-8, 22-10, 21-32)
Uttar Pradesh (Pankaj 18, Dheeraj Maurya 10) bt Chhattisgarh (Virendra 10, Salim Ali 10) 59-39 (21-11, 10-7, 10-12, 18-9)
Chhattisgarh (Vinod Rajak 17, Gajendra 10) bt Madhya Pradesh (Harshvardhan 9, Manoj Singh 7, Vicki Batham 7) 51-32 (10-12, 6-13, 18-4, 17-3)
Group B:
Haryana (Ankit Toshi 19, Rinku 16) bt Maharashtra (Sameer Qureshi 23) 71-48 (18-11, 11-16, 24-14, 18-7)
Punjab (Sahil 22, Kanwar Gurbaz Singh 18, Parmod Pal 17) bt Kerala (Joshua George 12, Jithin Paul 9) 74-43 (19-16, 24-14, 18-6, 13-7)
Kerala (Muhammed S. 24, Joshua J. George 14) bt Maharashtra (Faisan Khan 22, Gurprem Singh 12) 59-58 (12-15, 15-9, 14-16, 18-18)
Level 2:
Group C:
Jammu and Kashmir (Abhinav 11, Shivam 11) bt Puducherry (Gurumurthy 29) 51-46 (13-13, 2-10, 15-8, 21-15)
Group D:
Gujarat (Karan Pithadiya 14, Satyajeetsinh 8) bt Telangana (Priyank 9) 53-21 (13-8, 10-3, 12-6, 18-4)
West Bengal (S. Hussain 13, P. Mondal 11) bt Bihar (Raunak Kumar 7, Rahul Kumar 6) 55-24 (13-8, 11-7, 22-8, 9-1)
Group E:
Uttarakhand (Vaibhav Choudhary 28, Prakhar Sharma 18, Dheeraj Negi 12) bt Goa (Shaun 22, Manjesh 14, Roy 12) 63-60 (14-15, 13-13, 11-11, 25-21)
About 32nd Youth National Basketball Championship
The 32nd Youth National Basketball Championship is being conducted in Bhavnagar, Gujarat from 14th to 20th September 2015 by the Gujarat State Basketball Association in association with the Bhavnagar District Basketball Association and the Youngsters Basketball Club, Bhavnagar under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India.
The tournament shall see the participation of 43 teams from different states, which includes and 22 teams in the boys’ category and 21 teams in the girls’ category, in the ‘16 and under’ age group. Last year’s Youth National Championship was held in Chandigarh. The winners of the 2014 version were Tamil Nadu, in both the boys’ and girls’ categories, while the first runners up position was secured by the boys’ and girls’ teams from Kerala. The third place winner in the boys’ category last year was the team from Haryana. In the girls’ category, the third place winner last year was Karnataka.
This year’s tournament is being held on two outdoor courts at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. KARP Impex Group, involved in the business of diamond polishing, crafting and sale and based out of Surat, Gujarat, is the title sponsor for the event. Other sponsors include Sports Authority of Gujarat, Sheetal Group, Acrysil Limited, Madhu Silica, HVK, Rudra TMX, Mono TMT Bar, Leela Worldwide, Maruti Metal Industries, Priya Blue Industries Private Limited, Navyug Pharma Chemical Private Limited, NBM – Iron and Steel Trading Private Limited and Kiran Diamonds.
About Basketball Federation of India
The Basketball Federation of India or BFI is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India, and is responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. BFI has been involved in conducting camps, clinics, events, and training sessions at its academies for the development of basketball. BFI came into being in 1935 and took complete control over Indian basketball in 1950. Prior to that time, the Indian Olympic Association handled the conduct of Indian basketball championships. Since 1950, the BFI has been conducting various such championships, from the grassroots to senior team participation in international tournaments. In addition, the BFI has been responsible for the establishment of strong sub-junior and junior level programs. The BFI has to its credit produced several international players of repute, among them 17 have been bestowed with the honour of Arjuna Awards. Earlier in June 2015, 19-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamara made history by becoming the first Indian national to be drafted by an NBA team, when he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks. More information at www.basketballfederationindia.org