Kerala women continue dominance in day 3

Mysuru, 11^th January 2016:Day 3 of the championship started off with last year’s runners up Tamil Nadu continuing their winning streak by defeating Kerala men with a huge margin of 27 points. Aravind Annadurai had another good game in the paint with his 22 points, leading his team to a second easy win.

Rebound by team Kerala against Madhya Pradesh

In the women’s level 1 games, the Kerala women, after the opening day win against the defending champions Chhattisgarh, registered another victory over a young and inexperienced Madhya Pradesh side. Jeena Scaria, one of India’s best players, showcased her class today with 16 points. The Chhattisgarh women also achieved back-to-back victories, overwhelming Maharashtra with a 27-point victory margin.

Odisha against Chandigarh

In the level 2 games, Maharashtra men bounced back from their loss yesterday to register a blowout victory against Arunachal Pradesh. Chhattisgarh men also dominated against Puducherry with an 85-45 victory. Teams from Tripura suffered losses today morning with the men’s team losing to Bihar, while the women’s team failed to overcome Haryana.

Indian Railways and Delhi women stay strong

Tamil Nadu driving through an open lane against Indian Railways

The second half of Day 3 of the 66^th Senior National Basketball Championship underway in Mysore, Karnataka, began with the Indian Railways women’s team taking the court against a young Tamil Nadu team. The Railways side with their inside and outside play proved too strong for the Tamil Nadu team. Navaneetha came off the bench for the Railways and put up 20 points to lead her side to the easy victory. The Delhi women also remained unbeaten after a thrilling win against Punjab today afternoon. Prashanti Singh led her team with 20 points and 9 assists to seal the deal.

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi went for an alley-oop against Punjab

Punjab men upset Uttarakhand

Later in the day, two of the strongest teams in the men’s section, defending champions Uttarakhand and powerhouse Punjab took on each other in a cracking contest. In a game that witnessed multiple lead changes, the stars on each of the teams performed up to expectations. TJ Sahi ran the offense beautifully for the Punjab team putting up 9 assists to go with his 11 points. International forward Gurvinder Gill was a defensive presence for his team with 5 blocks in the game along with a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds. With their international defensive-minded forward Yadwinder Singh playing only limited minutes in the first half owing to his back problems, the Uttarakhand side gave up a lot of points in the paint. Punjab centre Gagandeep Singh had another good game with 16 points. India captain Vishesh Bhrighuvanshi put up a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort. Punjab pulled away in the final minutes to close out on a 65-57 victory.

High flying action between Punjab vs Uttarakhand

In level 2 men’s section, Prakash Mishra, a veteran point guard and former international player, put up a shooting clinic as he led his Madhya Pradesh team to victory against Andhra Pradesh with 32 points. The Chandigarh men made easy work of the Odisha team led by their centre Ravi Bhardwaj’s 27 points in the 86-70 victory. In the level 2 games in the women’s section, Bihar defeated Gujarat and Odisha cruised past Andhra Pradesh.

Results from Day 3 up to 7 pm

Level 1:

Women:

1. Kerala (Jeena PS 16, Stephy Nixon 12) bt Madhya Pradesh (Rinchen Bhutia 9, Nimdo Bhutia 9) 57-31 [17-12, 18-8, 14-4, 8-7]

2. Chhattisgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 23, Saranjeet Kaur 17, Sangeeta Kaur 11) bt Maharashtra (Sangeeta 13, Shireen Limaye 10, Manisha Dange 10) 72-45 [27-14, 18-10, 16-10, 11-11]

3. Delhi (Prashanti 20, Raspreet 20, Pratima 12) bt Punjab (Karamjeet Kaur 19, Kirandeep Kaur 13, Nirmali Kaur 10) 70-56 [18-16, 14-9, 14-17, 24-14]

4. Indian Railways (N Navaneetha 20, Raja Priya Dharshini 16, Sruthi 13, Smruthi Radhakrishnan 11) bt Tamil Nadu (Renjini Peter 19, Varshanandhini 16, Soniya Joy 13, Adhirai 13) 96-71[21-22, 23-17, 26-14, 26-18]

Men:

1. Tamil Nadu (Aravind Annadurai 22, Pratham Singh 16, Rikin Pethani 14) bt Kerala (Jishnu Niar 14, Jomon Jose 11) 73-46 [15-13, 22-2, 24-17, 12-14]

2. Punjab (Gagandeep Singh 16, Gurvinder Gill 13) bt Uttarakhand (Vishesh Bhrighuvanshi 18, Trideep Rai 12) 65-57 (12-17, 13-11, 26-17, 14-8)

3. Delhi (Gopal Ram 33, Parveen Dovan 22) bt Karnataka (Anil Kumar 24, Sashi Kumar 13, Sashi S. 12) 84-73 (14-18, 28-18, 23-11, 19-26)

4. Services (Mayur Bhat 20, Jairam Jat 20, Setu SM 13, Ashutosh Rai 13) bt Indian Railways (Ajay Pratap Singh 14, Himanshu Sharma 12) 78-61 [17-17, 11-20, 12-19, 21-22]

Level 2:

Women:

1. Haryana (Garima 11, Preeti 8) bt Tripura (Cheshta 7) 42-16 (7-4, 15-6, 13-5, 7-1)

2. Himachal Pradesh (Naina 9, Jyotiba 8) bt Jammu and Kashmir (Diksha Gupta 6) 41-10 (10-4, 19-4, 6-0, 6-2)

3. Bihar (Sravanthi 35, Priyanka 12, Divya 10) bt Gujarat (Patel 13, Dubey 10) 65-45 [8-3, 9-11, 21-14, 27-17]

4. Odisha (Rajashree 18, Urbasi Malik 17, Suvanki 10) bt Andhra Pradesh (Bhavani 10) 59-33 [18-13, 12-6, 19-7, 20-7]

5. Chandigarh (Akshitha 17) bt Uttarakhand (Shailja Aswal 10) 45-27 (11-5, 19-13, 8-5, 7-4)

6. Rajasthan (Jyothi 14, Asha Nayak 13, Kumud Khatri 12) bt Goa (Shaheen 3) 58-11 (17-2, 14-0, 17-5, 10-4)

7. West Bengal (Madhu Kumari 22, Anjana Dezy 15) bt Puducherry (Manjula 8) 66-22 (21-6, 15-8, 6-2, 24-6)

8. Uttar Pradesh (Vaishnavi Yadav 10, Shruti 9) bt Jammu and Kashmir (Pratibha 10) 42-12 (10-6, 15-0, 14-3, 3-3)

Men:

1. Uttar Pradesh (Bobby D 17, Abishek F 14) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Shalinder 13, Iqbal 10) 65-42 [42-11, 0-0, 10-8, 21-15]

2. Maharashtra (Umesh 13, Rohan 13, Anjinkya 12) bt Arunachal Pradesh (Ashish 9) 71-29 [21-9, 9-14, 26-0, 15-6]

3. Chhattisgarh (P. Rajesh 16, K. Shiv Kumar 16, Dinesh Mishra 11) bt Puducherry (Poovanan 14, Vinod PG 9) 85-45 (26-16, 20-13, 18-8, 21-8)

4. West Bengal (S. Joshi 18, M. Kaswan 17, A. Singh 14) bt Jharkhand (Rounak 8, Rajkumar 7, Allen 7) 74-33 (21-15, 22-9, 17-6, 14-3)

5. Rajasthan (Kamaram 16, Saurabh Badaya 12, Satwant S. Dhaliwal 8) bt Mizoram (Sonu Kumar 8, Vishesh 6) 73-27 (28-12, 17-3, 17-7, 11-5)

6. Bihar (Dhiraj 17, A. Prata Singh 9) bt Tripura (Vikram 14) 46-33 (13-6, 8-5, 15-4, 10-15)

7. Odisha (Sashi Kanta 14, Ashok 9, P. Suresh 9) bt Goa (Aaron G. 13, Charles 10, Shawn 10) 72-49 (28-14, 18-14, 24-8, 2-13)

8. Madhya Pradesh (M Parkash 32, Mahendra 21) bt Andhra Pradesh (D Vikram 30, N Kumar 9) 88-66 [27-23, 26-16, 23-14, 12-13]

9. Chandigarh (Ravi Bhardwaj 27, Gurinder G. 25, Kuldip K. 17) bt Odisha (Sashikanta Mohanty 29, Ashok Kumar Nair 14, Sravan Kumar 13) 86-70 (26-19, 24-22, 15-16, 21-13)

10. Rajasthan (Govind D. Khoiwal 17, Partha Sarathi 12, Saurabh Badaya 11) bt Bihar (Hemanth Yadav 19) 56-33 (14-2, 17-9, 16-17, 9-5)

11. Himachal Pradesh (Prashant 9, Anoop 8) bt Mizoram (Kamant 10) 47-18 (19-8, 15-3, 4-4, 9-3)

12. Gujarat (Vinay 26, Dhawal 14, Kasi Rajan 13, Harpal 10) bt Uttar Pradesh (Ashutosh 20, Ankur Anand 19, Bobby 16)78-71 [22-19, 12-11, 18-22, 26-19]

13. Maharashtra (Loveneet 14, Pradeep Chavan 14) bt Jammu & Kashmir (A Ranbir 18, D Iqbal 11) 66-54 [19-16, 19-15, 16-13, 12-20]

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 atwww.basketballfederationindia.org