Hosts Vijaya Bank through to the semis
Bengaluru, 20th October 2016: The Vijaya Bank organised 3rd Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament for Men 2016 entered Day 2 at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in the city. The tournament is being conducted under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India and the Karnataka State Basketball Association.
Hosts Vijaya Bank are through to the semifinals, having won both their Group A league matches. From Group B, Customs and Central Excise, Kochi are sitting pretty with two straight wins with one league match remaining tomorrow.
Customs and Central Excise, Kochi bt Kerala State Electricity Board 86-60
In the first match of the day Kerala state rivals Central Excise took on Kerala State Electricity Board. The two teams are very familiar with each other’s playing styles, having competed numerous times at the senior state level within Kerala. The first quarter opened with the favoured Customs team opening up a huge 20-4 lead. KSEB was guilty of turning the ball over too many times.
KSEB though began to show life late in the first quarter, before dominating 20-11 in the second period. The game was tied at 31, with Customs’ point guard Nikhil not helping matters by jacking up long three pointer attempts. At halftime, Customs led 34-33.
As it turned out, the effort of keeping the game close was too much for KSEB to maintain in the second half. Customs had a very easy 34-16 third quarter which broke KSEB’s back. Customs next plays President’s 11, Karnataka in their final league match tomorrow. KSEB, which is already knocked out of the tournament, takes on Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.
Customs and Central Excise, Kochi (Manoj 18, Eudrick Pereira 16, Nikhil R 15) bt Kerala State Electricity Board (Arun Harikumar 22, Gokul G 12, Arun Babu 11) 86-60 [23-13, 11-20, 34-16, 18-11]
Vijaya Bank bt Indian Bank 99-82
In arguably the most awaited match of the day, the talented Indian Bank stepped onto the floor for the first time in this tournament, as they took on hosts Vijaya Bank. Indian Bank features two young and promising international stars- shooting guard Hariram Ragupathy, who made his debut on the senior Indian team recently, and point guard P Baladhaneshwar, the current captain of the Indian U18 team.
Indian Bank was impressive in the first 15 minutes, able to easily blow past the man to man defence employed by Vijaya Bank. At the end of the first quarter, Indian Bank led 26-24. That’s when Vijaya Bank’s own international centre Arvind Arumugam starting dominating at centre. Arvind had a match high 31 points, and he was ably complimented by guard Anil Kumar’s 24, as Vijaya Bank outscored Indian Bank 30-13 in the second quarter.
Indian Bank’s playmaker Baladhaneshwar impressed in the first half but had to sit out the second half due to an ankle injury that had him moving gingerly throughout the game. With Bala out of action, that pretty much meant the death knell for Indian Bank, as Vijaya Bank cruised to an ultimately easy 99-82 win.
Vijaya Bank (2-0) is now through to the semifinals, while Indian Bank will face Integral Coach Factory, Chennai to decide the second semifinal team from Group A.
Vijaya Bank (Arvind Arumugam 31, Anil Kumar 24) bt Indian Bank (Sandeep 20, M Puvaneshwaran 19, Hariram Ragupathy 16) 99-82 [24-26, 30-13, 20-20, 25-23]
SDAT, Chennai bt President’s 11 Karnataka 75-55
The talented Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), Chennai team got the win it hoped for, beating President’s 11 Karnataka 75-55 on Day 2. Both these Group B teams are now 1-1 with a decisive final day of league matches left to be played tomorrow (21st Oct 2016).
The young and disciplined SDAT made its intent very clear right from tip off, rattling off 22-6 and 14-8 scores in the first two quarters. Their star forward, the athletic Justin was all over the place, top scoring with 27 points. For Karnataka, junior India basketballer Guruprasad Nayak showed his class, especially in the second half, for a total tally of 24 points.
Overall though, Karnataka failed to match the intensity of SDAT and were unable to replicate their performance from yesterday when they beat KSEB.
SDAT will now take on KSEB in their final league game, while Karnataka will compete against Group B toppers Customs and Central Excise, Kochi.
Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, Chennai (Justin 27, Anuganth 16, R Karthik 12) bt President’s 11 Karnataka (Guruprasad Nayak 24) 75-55 [22-6, 14-8, 17-22, 22-19]
About the Tournament
Venue: Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru
Dates: 19th to 23rd October 2016
The tournament is being held in the memory of the Late Shri Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty, a longstanding former Chairman of Vijaya Bank, who was instrumental in the growth of the bank through the 60s and 70s.
Matches are being played every evening on a league cum knockout basis. There are 7 teams in the fray in this tournament, divided into two Groups. The top two teams from each Group will progress to the semifinals followed by the finals.
This edition of the tournament is featuring some of the nation’s top men’s club sides such as hosts Vijaya Bank, Central Excise & Customs-Kochi, Indian Bank, Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-Chennai, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT)-Chennai and Karnataka State team (‘President’s 11’).
The following are the 13 international players who are participating: Indian Bank (Hariram- Senior India; Moses Jeevananth- Junior India; P Baladhaneshwar- Junior India), Vijaya Bank (Arvind Arumugam, Rajesh Uppar, Sanjay Raj- Senior India; S Karthickeyan- Junior India), Kerala State Electricity Board (Sreerag N Nair- Junior India, Arun Harikumar- Youth India), Cochin Customs (Eudrick Pereira, Basil Philip, Monish Wilson- Senior India), President’s 11, Karnataka (Guruprasad Nayak- Junior India).
Past Edition Details
The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 2014 in Malleshwaram, with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)-Chennai, ONGC, Vijaya Bank and Karnataka State finishing as the top four teams respectively.
The 2nd edition was held in 2015 at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru. Income Tax-Chennai emerged winners, with ONGC, Vijaya Bank and Kerala State Electricity Board rounding off the top four.
Vijaya Bank- A proud heritage in basketball
Notably, Vijaya Bank is the only recruiter of basketball talent in the state of Karnataka, and has contributed 10 international players to the country, starting with Olympian Gurumurthy Dileep, who joined the bank way back in 1984. Other international players honed by the bank are former India captain BS Gautham (1986), A Rajkumar (1988), S Stalin (1993), G Murali Mohan (1995), Roshan Thankachan (1999), Sanjay Raj (2002), Arvind Arumugam and Rajesh Uppar (both in 2012). Including these international stars, in all, the bank has recruited 25 national level players, who have represented their bank and the state of Karnataka with great pride and gusto.
FIXTURES OF THE 3RD MULKI SUNDER RAM SHETTY ALL INDIA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT, BENGALURU
19th to 23rd October 2016
Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru
LEAGUE FIXTURES
GROUP A GROUP B Vijaya Bank Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) Indian Bank Karnataka State team (‘President’s 11’) Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-Chennai Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT)-Chennai Central Excise & Customs-Kochi
S.No Date/Day Time Team Name 1.
2.
3.
19.10.16/Wednesday 5:00 pm
6:30 pm
8:00 pm
Vijaya Bank Vs ICF
SDAT Vs Central Excise & Customs-Kochi
President’s 11 Vs KSEB
1.
2.
3.
20.10.16/Thursday 4:30 pm
6:00 pm
7:30 pm
Central Excise & Customs-Kochi Vs KSEB
Vijaya Bank Vs Indian Bank
President’s 11 Vs SDAT Chennai
1.
2.
3.
21.10.16/Friday 4:30 pm
6:00 pm
7:30 pm
ICF Vs Indian Bank
KSEB Vs SDAT
President’s 11 Vs Central Excise & Customs-Kochi
KNOCK-OUT FIXTURES 22nd October 2016 - Saturday 5:30 pm I Match - Winner of Group A Vs Runner of Group B
7:00 pm II Match - Winner of Group B Vs Runner of Group A
23rd October 2016 - Sunday FINALS