Hurricanes emerge as champions of the 6th Masters Basketball League

Team Hurricanes secure victory at the 6th Masters Basketball Laeague held in Pune.

Image credits: Masters Basketball Foundation Team Hurricanes beat Evergreens 42-31 to secure their championship at the 6th Masters Basketball League held in Pune. Mandar Thorat emerged as the top scorer with 21 points. Other leading scorers included Mayur Chandorkar (12 pts), Lalit Nahata (10 pts) and Shrikant Joshi (9 pts). Mandar Thorat and Geetali Deshpande were titled the 'Best players of the tournament'. FINALS Hurricanes 42 (Mandar Thorat 21, Lalit Nahata 10) bt Evergreens 31 (Mayur Chandorkar 12, Shrikant Joshi 9) Best players - Lalit Nahata and Mayur Chandorkar Best players of the tournament - Mandar Thorat and Geetali Deshpande

About Masters Basketball League

Basketball is increasingly becoming a popular sport in the sprawling city of Pune. Masters Basketball League is an initiative by senior basketball players of the city with the idea of reuniting and re-creating their passion for the game. The league features former basketball players between the ages of 35 and 60 from various clubs across the city. It has gained popularity over the years and has elicited tremendous interest from former district, state, national and international players. The championship received an overwhelming response this year with 101 confirmed participants from Pune, Satara, Nashik and Mumbai along with a significant number on the waiting list. Ten teams participated with approximately 10 players each comprising of both men and women. The rules of the league are slightly different. The playing five comprises of 4 men and 1 woman. An extremely interesting rule in the league requires every player to be a part of the paying five for a minimum of 7 minutes. Thus, the teams have to demonstrate the knack of utilizing all the players’ strengths efficiently along with great basketball skills. The League kicked off on the 6th of April and matches were played on 7th, 8th, 13th, 14th and 15th of April 2018. The League not only shows the love and the passion for the game but also gives the participants and basketball aficionados the opportunity to relive the nostalgia. The organizing committee of the Masters Basketball League comprised of the following members - Shantanu Pawar, Suvarna Limaye, Gopika Kachare, Shirish Deshpande, Jaywant Bhave, Prasad Yeravdekar, Yogesh Joshi and Ashish Kasodekar. Mr Sunil Jadhav, the founder of Karan Developers was present on the final day of the league as the Chief Guest for prize distribution. Mr. Dipak Mane, Head of Physical Education Department in Pune University, Mr. Vishwas Lokare, General Secretary of Deccan Gymkhana and the organizing committee of Masters Basketball League graced the occasion and witnessed the finals on 15^th April 2018.   Other RESULTS Results from Day 5, 14^th April 2018 MATCH 1 - SEMI FINALS I Evergreens 42 (Mayur Chandorkar 13, Omprakash 13) bt Jammers 25 (Abhay Chavan 9, Gopika Kachare 6) Best Players - Om Prakash and Shrikant Joshi MATCH 2 – SEMI FINALS II Hurricanes 46 (Mandar Thorat 18, Shantanu Pawar 12) bt Chargers 34 (Shreeyash Kolhapure 10, Amit Naikare 5) Best Players - Satish Kelkar and Shreeyash Kolhapure Results from Day 4, 13^th April 2018 MATCH 1 – QUARTER FINALS I Hurricanes 37 (Mandar Thorat 12, Shantanu Pawar 8) bt Black Hawks 28 (Shardul Date 10, Harshawardhan Patil 8) Best Players - Suresh Shelar and Sunila Walimbe MATCH 2 – QUARTER FINALS II Jammers 36 (Nishant Gavali 12, Amar Katkar 11) bt Daredevils 10 (Prasad Yeravdekar 4 pts, Abhijeet Sahastrabudhhe 2) Best Players – Amar Katkar and Suvarna Joshi Results from Day 3, 8^th April 2018 MATCH 1 Chargers 32 (Shailesh Surve 11, Shreeyash Kolhapure 9) bt Arsenal 31 (Ashwin Deshpande 20 pts, Geetali Deshpande 7) Best Players - Anand Dravid and Geetali Deshpande MATCH 2 Evergreens 29 (Sandip Agate 8, Omprakash 6) bt Gliders 10 (Pravin Patil 5, Kiran Garge 3) Best Players - Rajesh Shah and Madhuri Bhagwat MATCH 3 Jammers 33 (Abhay Chavan 16 pts, Nilesh Ingle 8) bt Iconics 31 (Manoj Bhagat 9 pts, Suresh Mishra 8) Best Players - Abhay Chavan and Subhash Chandra MATCH 4 Black Hawks 35 (Shardul Date 10, Harshawardhan Patil 7) bt Ferocious Falcons 23 (Edward Kacherikar 9 pts, Suraj Gondil 6) Best Players -  Edward Kacherikar and Reshma Boravke Results from Day 2, 7^th April 2018 MATCH 1 Ferocious Falcons 26 (Amjad Khan 8, Mukund Kadam 5) bt Iconics 24 (Kedar Pathak 6, Anand Kulkarni 6) Best Players - Amjad Khan and Rupali Agashe MATCH 2 Daredevils 25 (Abhijeet Sahastrabuddhe 9, Paresh Thorat 5) bt Arsenal 21 (Geetali Deshpande 9, Aanad Dravid 5) Best Players -  Abhijeet Sahastrabuddhe and Rupali Wadekar MATCH 3 Jammers 38 (Aamar Katkar 10, Aabhay Chavan 9) bt Black Hawks 24 (Shirish Deshpande 10, Harshawardhan Patil 8) Best Players - Amar Dhanawde and Reshma Boravke MATCH 4 Gliders 38 (Pravin Patil 12, Daniel D'souza 8) bt Hurricanes 30 (Shantanu Pawar 9, Mandar Thorat 9) Best Players - Pravin Patil and Sneha Gokhale Results from Day 1, 6^th April MATCH 1 Chargers 34 (Shreeyash Kolhapure 11, Shailesh Surve 10 pts) bt Daredevils 19 (Paresh Thorat 11, Prasad Yeravdekar 7) Best Players - Shailesh Surve and Sayli Deole MATCH 2 Jammers 31 (Nilesh Ingle 12, Gopika Kachare 10) bt Ferocious Falcons 30 (Amzad Khan 10, Edward Kacherikar 6) Best players - Nilesh Ingle and Gauri Deshpande MATCH 3 Hurricanes 34 (Mandar Thorat 13, Suresh Shelar 8) bt Evergreens 28 (Omprakash 7, Suraj Gondil 7) Best players - Mandar Thorat and Rashmi Kulkarni MATCH 4 Iconics 42 (Anand Kulkarni 12, Sangram Patil 9) bt Black Hawks 39 (Harshawardhan Patil 17, Shardul Date 9) Best Players -  Kedar Pathak and Kanchan Pan