Knockout stages of the 68th Junior National to commence tomorrow
UP centre Bhagyansh Gulati had a strong two way game in the qualifying match win over Madhya Pradesh. Both teams are through to the prequarterfinals of the 68th Junior National. Image credits: Basketball Federation of India
Noida, 8th June 2017: The final day of the league stages at the 68th Junior National Basketball Championship threw no major surprises. The Punjab boys continued to dominate outclassing the defending champs Tamil Nadu. Role players Mandeep Singh (20 points) and Gurwinder Singh (18 points) stepped up to lead the charge for Punjab. 6-foot 10-inch Punjab centre Princepal Singh held the fort in the middle and put up 12 points. Despite Tamil Nadu staying within reach for the first three quarters, the fourth period was a one-sided affair with Punjab outscoring TN 32 to 7 on their way to a 68-45 win.
The Rajasthan boys handed Chhattisgarh their fourth straight loss, knocking them out of the tournament. Chhattisgarh’s Salim Ali fought hard with his 25 points, but he had little support. Rajasthan’s Rajeev led all scorers with 28 points and helped to cement his team’s place in the quarterfinals tomorrow where they will face Chandigarh.
The Punjab girls pulled off a close win against Rajasthan, who fell to a 71-69 defeat. Forward Rajandeep was on fire with 30 points in the game. She was ably supported by Punjab centre Aakarshan who put up 14 points. Despite Rajasthan’s 31 points fourth quarter, Punjab held on to a slim lead to clinch a decisive victory, placing them in the quarterfinals tomorrow against defending champions Karnataka.
Later in the day, the Chhattisgarh girls ran past the defending champions Karnataka in a surprisingly one-sided game. Chhattigarh led from start to finish, behind Gulabsha Ali’s 26 points and forward Megha Singh’s 20 points. The fourth quarter was the icing on the cake for Chhattisgarh, as they clamped down on the defensive end, not allowing Karnataka to score even a single point. Chhattisgarh ended the game up 30 points to seal a 75-45 win.
Tamil Nadu forward Srishti Suren draws a foul against Maharashtra. Image credits: Basketball Federation of India
The undefeated teams in girls’ Group B squared off to decide the pool toppers today evening. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were evenly matched, until an explosion of offense in the third quarter pushed Tamil Nadu ahead. TN’s Pushpa had a game-high 36 points, helping her team to a 91-78 win, finishing the league stages with a perfect record. TN forward Avanti (16 points) and point guard Nishanthi (13 points) also contributed.
Both the UP teams won their qualifying matches against the Madhya Pradesh teams to decide their pre-quarterfinal opponent tomorrow. The UP girls have chosen to face Rajasthan in their pre-quarterfinal game, while the boys will play against Haryana.
Results from 8th June 2017
Women:
Level 1
Group A
Gujarat (Tavleen 33, Riya 12) bt Delhi (Meena 25, Shubham 13, Sushantika 11) 56-55(9-20, 12-9, 14-2, 21-24)
Chhattisgarh (Gulabsha Ali 26, Megha Singh 20, Mahima 17) bt Karnataka (Rajvi Jain 12, Sanjana Ramesh 11)75-45 (23-13, 12-20, 19-12, 21-0)
Group B
Punjab(Rajandeep 30, Aakarshan 14) bt Rajasthan (Ishika 21, Yashvani 16, Yashika 11, Kanika 11) 71-69 (19-20, 15-10, 13-8, 24-31)
Tamil Nadu (Pushpa 36, Avanti 16, Dharshini 13, Nishanthi 13) bt Maharashtra (Shreya 14, Anshika 6, Sakshi 6) 91-78(22-23, 14-18, 30-18, 25-19)
Qualifying match from Level 2 to Level 1*
* Both these teams have already qualified for Level 1 from Level 2. This match is played for the only reason that the winning team gets to choose its pre-quarterfinals opponents.
Uttar Pradesh(Vaishnavi Yadav 28, Reena Patel 15) bt Madhya Pradesh (Isha Chouhan 23, Vanshita 14) 81-60 (24-18, 19-15, 22-6, 16-21)
Loser Knockout Semi-Finals
Odisha(Lipramayee 33) bt Telangana (Nashita 15, BS Rivani 10) 53-39 (17-8, 6-12, 14-7, 16-12)
Chandigarh (Amrit 18, Nisha 16) bt Himachal Pradesh (Arunima 4) 61-12 (27-4, 11-2, 9-2, 14-4)
Men:
Level 1
Group A
Punjab(Mandeep Singh 20, Gurwinder Singh 18, Princepal Singh 12) bt Tamil Nadu (Shanmugam M. 15, Arvind Kumar 10) 68-45 (12-6, 9-17, 15-15, 32-7)
Rajasthan (Rajeev 28, Ataol 16, Ashish 12) btChhattisgarh (Salim Ali 25, Jatin Kumar 14) 68-52 (16-8, 24-15, 11-16, 17-13)
Group B
Maharashtrabt Chandigarh 24-14 [Match stopped and awarded to Maharashtra]
Delhi (Manik 21, Aditya 17, Nitesh 14) bt Telangana (Srinivasa 14, Dinesh 13) 84-54(21-15, 22-11, 21-17, 20-11)
Qualifying match from Level 2 to Level 1*
* Both these teams have already qualified for Level 1 from Level 2. This match is played for the only reason that the winning team gets to choose its pre-quarterfinals opponents.
Uttar Pradesh(Shivendra Pandey 23, Akshay Sharma 18, Bhagyansh Gulati 17, Prasun Mishra 16) bt Madhya Pradesh (Puneet Tripathi 26, Yogesh J 16) 90-60 (11-15, 22-14, 27-16, 30-15)
Loser Knockout Semi-Finals
West Bengal(Binod 20, Saddam 16, Aditya 13) bt Himachal Pradesh (Jatin 20, Gurkaran 12) 75-54 (15-19, 26-14, 23-15, 11-6)
Gujarat (Karan 17, Harsh 15, Krishna Pal 7) bt Jammu and Kashmir (Sumit 18, Abhinav 11) 68-44 (32-9, 8-8, 15-17, 13-10)