Defending champs Chhattisgarh women, hosts Karnataka men knocked out

Jan 14, 2016

Mysuru, 14^th January 2016: The semi-final line-up has been set after the conclusion of the quarterfinals on day 6 of the 66^th Senior National Basketball Championship in Mysuru. The semifinals will be played tomorrow afternoon 2.30 pm onwards. In the women’s section, defending champions Chhattisgarh have been knocked out by the Delhi side. Telangana women also advanced defeating Tamil Nadu. Indian Railways picked up an easy 80-44 win against West Bengal, while Kerala also advanced to the semis handily defeating Punjab 58-24 in a completely one-sided contest.

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All ball rejection by Uttarakhand big man Murali

In the men’s section, Tamil Nadu managed to give all their players time on the court in a blowout game against Gujarat. Tamil Nadu led all the way and remained unchallenged to register an 82-50 victory. Tamil Nadu’s 6^th man Siva Balan and star forward Aravind Annadurai jointly led their team in scoring with 15 points each.

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Aravind Karnataka's captain lays it in

Kerala men managed to give the undefeated Punjab side a minor scare in their quarterfinal clash in the early part of the game. Kerala got off to a good start establishing a 6-point lead in the first quarter, led by high-flying guard Jishnu Nair and forward Manoj. But Punjab regrouped in the second half to fight their way back into the lead. TJ Sahi maintained his consistency on his way to scoring 24 points in the game. He was ably support by guard Arshpreet Bhullar (20 points) and Punjab’s ever-dependable centre Gagandeep Singh (17 points, 14 rebounds). Kerala could not maintain their momentum in the second half as Punjab outscored their opponent 66 to 38. Punjab ended up with the highest team score of the tournament so far with 104 points to advance to the semifinals.

Defending champions Uttarakhand took on the talented Indian Railways side in their quarterfinal matchup. The match was evenly matched till the third quarter, when an unfortunate incident led to the ejection of Railways centre/ forward Palpreet Singh for unsportsmanlike conduct. The game turned on its head after Railways lost their centre, and Uttarakhand dominated for the rest of the contest to register an 84-64 victory. Vishesh Bhrighuvanshi had a game-high 26 points in the victory and his teammate Trideep Rai contributed 22 points.

Hosts Karnataka took on the Services team in their quarterfinal match today for a spot in the semis. Karnataka regained the services of their forward and go-to-scorer Aravind Arumugam, who missed yesterday’s game due to injury. Karnataka got off to a good start, leading by 4 points at the end of the first quarter. Services fought their way back into the contest and led 35 to 31 at half. The second half completely belonged to the Services team as they outscored their opponent 54 to 32, led by Narender Grewal’s 24 points and Joginder Singh’s 17 points and 6 assists. Karnataka’s Anil Kumar had 20 points in a losing effort.

Telangana and Delhi women advance to semis

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Tamil Nadu with a pull up jumper

In the quarterfinals, dark horse Telangana picked up an easy win against a young Tamil Nadu team, despite some of the key players playing limited minutes due to injuries during the game. The Telangana side looked like a well-oiled unit, outplaying the Tamil Nadu team in almost all departments. Divya P. top scored for Telangana with 26 points and led her team to a spot in the semi-finals to be played tomorrow.

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Rejection by Poonam of Chhattisgarh

The other women’s quarterfinal was a rematch of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Delhi. This time around, Delhi managed to exact revenge against the defending champions. Chhattisgarh’s Poonam Chaturvedi, 2015 MVP, put up 44 points shooting 83% from the field. But her rebounding numbers were down, as all five Delhi players crashed the boards, making life difficult for Poonam. The rest of Chhattisgarh’s team provided little support to Poonam. Pratima Singh, who scored 36 points and had 7 assists, carried Delhi’s scoring load. Her sister Prashanti Singh put up 24 points and veteran shooter Raspreet Sidhu contributed timely buckets with 12 points in the contest. Delhi pulled away late to close out the game with a 84-76 victory.

Pre-quarterfinals

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Bihar in a flying action play dishes for an easy two against Andhra Pradesh

The morning session began with the women’s pre-quarterfinals. The Punjab women bounced back from their below par group stage performance with a victory against Rajasthan. Punjab relied on a team game and contributions from multiple players, with four players scoring in double digits to go with 24 points from their bench. Punjab centre Harjeet Kaur was a major contributor for her team with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Punjab’s used their size to their advantage, outrebounding the Rajasthan team 56 to 40. For Rajasthan, Nisha Sharma put up a game-high 30 points, but she had little support from her teammates. Punjab eventually cruised to an 84-66 victory.In the other women’s pre-quarterfinal, West Bengal registered an emphatic victory against Maharashtra, continuing their impressive run in the tournament. West Bengal’s big three of Madhu Kumari, Anjana Dezy and Libina all scored above 20 points to lead their side to a blowout 82-50 victory. The men’s pre-quarterfinals also saw a blowout victory with Gujarat comfortably defeating Haryana 88-69. Gujarat centre/ forward Dishant Shah was on fire scoring 30 points in the game. Gujarat established an early lead, which they maintained for the rest of the contest to secure a place in the quarterfinal, to be played against Tamil Nadu today evening. The other men’s pre-quarterfinal between Kerala and Chhattisgarh was a tighter affair with the game coming down to the wire. The game saw multiple lead changes, with Chhattisgarh outscoring Kerala in the first half and Kerala coming back in the second, led by their top scorer Monish Wilson (16 points). Finally, towards the end, Kerala got hold of a slim lead and closed out the game.

Semi-final line-up

Women:

Indian Railways v. Telangana

Kerala v. Delhi

Men:

Tamil Nadu v. Uttarakhand

Services v. Punjab

Results

Pre-Quarterfinals:

Women:

Men:

Quarterfinals:

Women:

Men:

Loser Knockout Final:

Women:

Bihar (Sravanthi 27, Divya Tiwari 10) bt Andhra Pradesh (Bhavani 13, Manudeepa 10) 59-41 (8-10, 13-7, 19-7, 19-17)

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 25 women’s teams. The last time a senior national level basketball championship was held in Mysuru was the 39th edition way back in 1987.

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

Defending champs Chhattisgarh women, hosts Karnataka men knocked out

Telangana and Delhi women advance to semis

Pre-quarterfinals

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