India's Youth National Basketball C'ship underway in Kolkata

The 39th edition of the premier U16 tourney for boys and girls tipped off on November 29 and will continue till December 5

Kolkata/Howrah, 30 December 2024: The 39th Youth National Basketball Championship for U16 Boys and Girls tipped off yesterday in West Bengal.

The championship is being conducted in two different venues: the Dumurjala Indoor Stadium, Howrah and the West Bengal Basketball Association (WBBA) Ground, Red Road, Kolkata.

There are 29 boys’ teams and 27 girls’ teams participating.

Groupings & Competition Format

Like in previous editions, teams have been divided into six groups - A to F.

While Groups A and B - with 10 total teams - constitute elite ‘Level 1’, Groups C to F are the lower ‘Level 2’.

The Championship follows a round-robin cum knockout format.

Within each Group, teams will play against each other - in a round-robin format.

Thereafter, the top 4 teams from each of the lower groups (C to F) - will face off against each other. The top 2 teams thereafter, will be promoted to Level 1.

Similarly, the bottom two teams from Groups A and B will be relegated to Level 2 for the next edition.

After the Group Stage, the knockouts will follow - featuring the top 8 teams from Groups A and B.

Last year’s winners

The defending champions are Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu in the boys and girls sections respectively. Meanwhile, the runners-up were Punjab and Karnataka.

How to Watch?

The games are being live-streamed on BFI and SportsCast India YouTube Channels.

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