66th Senior National Basketball Championship tips off in Mysuru
66th Senior National Basketball Championship tips off in Mysuru
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah & Infosys Founder & Chairman Shri Narayana Murthy attend the inaugural ceremony
Kerala women & TN men register crucial opening wins, the former, by upsetting defending champs Uttarakhand women.
Infosys co-founder Shri Narayana Murthy presented a memento by BFI President Shri K Govindaraj
Mysuru, 9th December 2016: The 66th Senior National Basketball Championship tipped off today morning at the Chamundi Vihar Stadium in Mysuru, Karnataka. The tournament is being organised by Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA) under the aegis of Basketball Federation of India (BFI).
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah & Infosys Founder & Chairman Shri Narayana Murthy Guests attend Inaugural Ceremony
During an evening inauguration ceremony marked by the presence of several distinguished guests, Shri K Govindaraj, MLC and President of BFI, welcomed the gathering. Introductory remarks were delivered by Shri Om Prakash, IPS and Chairman of the organizing Committee. Infosys co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Shri Narayana Murthy, who hails from Mysuru, conveyed his best wishes towards the successful conduct of the event. Bouquets and mementos were presented to the guests.
“I’m absolutely delighted to inaugurate this Championship. For the mental and physical well-being of youth, right from school days, it is necessary to inculcate an active lifestyle. Such an atmosphere needs to created at home and in school.” said Shri Siddaramaiah
Other guests included government of Karnataka ministers Shri Dr HC Mahadevappa, Minister of Public Works Department and Shri Mahadeva Prasad (Minister of Co-Operation). Karnataka men’s international player Arvind conducted the oath taking ceremony.
Shri Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General of the BFI, RS Gill, former BFI President and Teja Singh, President of Punjab Basketball Association were also present.
B Dayananda, IPS, Vice Chairman of the organising committee delivered the vote of thanks.
A traditional cultural programme followed, but not before CM Siddaramaiah knocked down a ceremonial freethrow.
Kerala women & TN men register crucial opening wins
On the morning of Day 1 of the championship, Kerala women came out firing against the defending champions in a crucial Group A victory. From the start both the teams went head to head as the Kerala team played aggressive man to man defense and were able to force a couple of turnovers. This led them to major fast break opportunities in the third quarter to build a good lead. Jeena PS, one of the top Asian talents, led her team with a high scoring game of 21 points. In the other women games, Telangana and Delhi overpowered their opponents with sharp shooting from beyond the arc. R Ramya was raining three pointers throughout the game, with her 21 points for Telangana ensuring the opening victory.
Delhi women, too, ensured their win over Tamil Nadu through balanced contributions by their starters.
TN men beat new look Indian Railways lineup
Tamil Nadu entered this tournament with a very strong line up of experienced international players. In the first half both teams were playing hard man to man defense as they limited each others’ scoring in the first half. A physical game throughout, Tamil Nadu’s star shooting guard Pratham Singh’s clutch three pointers were hard to stop as he was hot and loaded at the end of the half. In the other men’s Level 1 game, Services ran up a massive double digit lead against Telangana. Their faster tempo and pressure defense restricted young international talent Reddy from Telangana as he had given his best but was short in snatching their first victory.
Level 2 Action
In the lower Level 2 games, both Men’s and Women’s section teams were looking to do their best to book a spot in the pre-quarters of the main knockout competition. In the men’s section Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh played with aggression as they came ready to regain their spots in the Level 1 groups. In the women’s section Rajasthan and Odisha bagged themselves first wins. Tripura men, with their enthusiastic participation all the way from the north east, played two games in the morning session, losing the first but winning the second against another north-east team Mizoram.
Results on Day 1 up to 17:30 pm
Level 1
Women
Kerala (Jeena P S 21, Stephy Nixon 13, Neenumol P S 12) bt Chhattisgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 16, Saranjeet Kaur 14, Sangeeta Kaur 14) 67-54 [16-11, 21-13, 14-18, 16-12]
Telangana (R Ramya 21, Anto Anusha 16, Divya P 14, Suganya L 10) bt Madhya Pradesh (Pandey Sakshi 15, Bhutia Nimdo 13, Hooda Rimpy 8) 73-42 [20-09, 15-05, 23-14, 15-14]
Delhi (S Prashanti 19, S Pratima 16, S Raspreet 13) bt Tamil Nadu (Peter Ranjini 11, R Varshanandini 7) 72-50 [18-9, 16-15, 17-15, 21-11]
Men
Services (Jat Jairam 14, Singh Joginder 11, S M Setu 11, Singh Mahipal 11) bt Telangana (Reddy Ambatty 9, Yadav Nihal 9, Yadav Shiva 8) 95-44 [28-10, 21-13, 17-11, 29-10]
Tamil Nadu (Rikin Pathani 18, Aravind A 15, Pratham Singh 14) bt Railways (Palpreet Singh 13, Himanshu Sharma 10) 71-44 [20-13, 11-17, 29-08, 11-06]
Haryana (Virender 18, Deepak Rathee 14) bt Delhi (Pravin Davon 10, Ramesh Kumar 8) 75-54 [15-13, 19-16, 19-10, 22-15]
Level 2
Women
Rajasthan (Nisha Sharma 21, Asha Nayak 8) bt Uttarakhand (Bhavana Bisht 7) 42-16 [12-3, 10-4, 8-2, 12-7]
Odisha (Rajashreeswain 16, Promodini 6, Bhisnu Priya Malik 6, Sunanki 6) bt Tripura (Kajal 4) 52-11 [12-00, 16-04, 08-04, 16-03]
Gujarat (Metha 13, Godhani 11) bt Puducherry (Suganya N 6) 42-18 [16-00, 08-04, 10-13, 08-01]
Men
Odisha (Ashok Nayak 11, Sahid Khan 11, Sashikanta 9, Sravan Kumar 6) bt Puducherry (Hari Krishan 16, Vinod P G 12) 50-40 [11-10, 12-12, 12-14, 15-04]
Chhattisgarh (Dineah Mishra 19, Rudraksh Pandey 11, Ratat Srivastava 9) bt Goa (Bosco Furtado 11, Shwan Soares 10) 56-34 [17-09, 20-12, 10-04, 09-09]
Tripura (Vishal Vikram Singh 10, Vikram 8) bt Mizoram (Sudir 12) 31-14 [06-04, 09-03, 06-00, 10-07]
Rajasthan (Kamran Khan 13, Govind Khoiwal 13, Partha Sarathi 11, Hirendra 9) bt Tripura (Divya Lamba 6, Vishal Vikram 6) 62-17 [25-04, 08-04, 19-06, 10-03]
Gujarat (Goti 18, Dhawal 17, Dlshant 15 ) bt Arunachal Pradesh (Surit Singh 10) 82-32 [24-10, 16-10, 23-04, 19-08]
Andhra Pradesh (Kumar Naveen 30, Verma Kumar 11, Kumar Tharuna 9, Kumar Shiva 9) bt Jharkhand (Peter Allen 9, Jafry Jawed 8) 77-28 [25-12, 26-07, 16-05, 10-04]
Madhya Pradesh (M Prakash 47, R Mahendrasing 12, M Shubham 9) bt West Bengal (S Manpreet 24, J Sagar 11) 78-65 [32-09, 12-10, 13-16, 21-30]
About the 66th Senior National Basketball Championship
The 66th Senior National Basketball Championship is being organised in Mysuru, Karnataka by the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA). The tournament is being held at the Chamundi Vihar Stadium from 9 to 16 January 2016. The Punjab Basketball Association is the organising body for the tournament under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India. Matches are being held simultaneously on two indoor (at the Chamundi Vihar Stadium) and two outdoor (at Mysuru University) courts.
Last year’s Senior National Championship was held in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, with Uttarakhand men and Chhattisgarh women crowned champions This year’s tournament is witnessing a high participation of 29 men’s teams and 24 women’s team. The last time a senior national level basketball championship was held in Mysuru was the 39th edition way back in 1987.