ONGC Dehradun crowned champs of the 1st All India Basketball Tournament for Men (Rohtak)
ONGC Dehradun crowned champs of the 1st All India Basketball Tournament for Men (Rohtak)
Inaugural Champions ONGC, Dehradun.
Rohtak, 6th August 2016: ONGC, Dehradun has been crowned champions of the 1st All India Basketball Tournament for Men, Rohtak that concluded a short while ago at the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex in Sector 6. The tournament was organised by the Basketball Club of Haryana (BCH) under the aegis of the Haryana State Basketball Association and the Basketball Federation of India.
Prize Distribution ceremony, guests & felicitations
Shri Devender Kalyan, Commissioner-Income Tax (Gurugram) was the chief guest of the occasion. Shri Krishan Hooda, Contractor (Haryana Urban Developmental Authority) was the guest of honour. Also present as guests were Shri Pardeep Kumar, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Rohtak) and Prof Dalbir Singh Kharab, Secretary of Haryana State Basketball Association.
Two past players hailing from Haryana, Arjuna Awardee Om Prakash Sr and Shri Ram Kumar (Dhyan Chand awardee) graced the occasion and were presented bouquets by the chief guest and guest of honour.
Basketball Club of Haryana’s Organising Secretary Shri Sudhir Hooda and Secretary Adv. Navdeep conducted the felicitations and players/officials’ introductions.
ONGC’s international centre Amritpal Singh was named the tournament’s most valuable player (MVP), and was awarded a cash prize of INR 5100/- and a full Rido basketball set.
The winning team, ONGC Dehradun received INR 1,00,000/- and a trophy while runners up Indian Railway got INR 50,000/-. Additionally, every man of the match throughout the tournament received INR 2100/- and trophies.
ONGC, Dehradun bt Indian Railway 90-62
ONGC got off to a blistering start in the finals, before Railway found its rhythm towards the end of the first quarter to trail 18-21. Railway Centre Somveer got into early foul trouble in his attempts to contain rival centre Amritpal Singh, and had to sit out the second quarter. That was just the ammunition that Amritpal needed to continue to cause havoc in the paint. Playing him perfect foil was veteran guard Riyazuddin, who simply couldn’t miss from beyond the three point line, hitting 7 cold blooded tres. Riyazuddin would end the game with 35 points and the man of the match award.
Final's Man of the Match ONGC's Riyazuddin.
Giving the two ONGC players strong support was the unflappable Vishesh who had 24 points in the game, not to mention his strong leadership at the defensive end of the floor.
Indian Railway trailed 35-55 at the end of the second quarter. ONGC had the luxury of using their bench while cruising to the finish line. Railway’s Gagandeep battled hard against the taller Amritpal but was blocked multiple times, while Gagandeep’s guard mate Himanshu top scored with 16 points.
ONGC Dehradun (Riyazuddin 35, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 24, Amritpal Singh 18) bt Indian Railway (Himanshu 16, Gagandeep 12, Somveer 10) 90-62 [21-18, 34-17, 29-16, 6-11]
Semifinal results (held on 5th August)
Indian Railway (Somveer 21, Gagan 20, Himanshu 16) bt Income Tax, Chennai (Akilan Pari 23, Raghuram 14) 89-63 [24-20, 18-17, 19-9, 28-17]
ONGC, Dehradun (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 20, Mohit Bhandari 14, Riyazuddin 13) bt Indian Army (Ramesh 7, Gopal Ram 6) 76-36 [32-5, 19-9, 18-12, 7-10]
Final League Standings
(top two teams from each group progressed to the semis)
Final seeding Group A Group B 1 ONGC, Dehradun (3-0) Indian Railway (3-0) 2 Income Tax, Chennai (2-1) Indian Army (2-1) 3 Haryana (1-2) Punjab (1-2) 4 Indian Air Force (0-3) Basketball Club of Haryana (0-3)
About the 1st All India Basketball Tournament, Rohtak (Haryana)
There are 8 participating men’s club teams:
ONGC, Dehradun (Group A)
Indian Railways (Group B)
Punjab (Group B)
Indian Army (Group B)
Income Tax, Chennai (Group A)
Indian Air Force (Group A)
Haryana (Group A)
Basketball Club of Haryana (Group B)
The teams have been divided into two preliminary groups A and B. Matches are being played in a league cum knockout basis every day from 4pm to 10pm in the indoor hall of the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex in Rohtak. The top two teams from each Group progress to the semifinals, followed by the finals on 6th August.
This is a prize money tournament and the winning team will receive INR 1,00,000/- and a trophy while the runners up get INR 50,000/-. Additionally, every man of the match will be awarded INR 2100/- and the tournament most valuable player (MVP) will get INR 5100/-. Individual winners will also receive trophies, and additionally the MVP will be gifted a full Rido basketball set.
The tournament sponsors are Shiv Naresh, LPS Bossard, Kalinga University (Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh), Pahli Khabar, Desan International (‘Rido’), D2M Hotel, Disha and Scholars Rosary.
Stars playing and in attendance
The stars who are in action include current India internationals such as Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Amritpal Singh, Yadwinder Singh (ONGC), Haryana’s very own Joginder Singh (Indian Air Force), Akilan Pari and Rikin Pethani (Income Tax, Chennai). The former internationals include Trideep Rai, Riyazuddin, Mohit Bhandari, Anoop Mukkaniyil, Shabeer Ahamed, Riyazuddin and R Murali Krishna (all ONGC).
Arjuna awardees Shri Om Prakash Sr. and Shri Ajmer Singh will be in attendance throughout the event, as well as Dhyand Chand Awardees Shri Ram Kumar and Smt Aparna Ghosh.
About Basketball Club of Haryana (BCH)
The Basketball Club of Haryana was founded in August 2015 with the aim of promoting basketball in the state. The 25 founding members include many coaches, players and physios.
About Haryana Basketball
Haryana is an emerging basketball powerhouse in India. In the 2014-15 Senior National Basketball Championship held in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, the men’s team made a historic run to the semifinals after upsetting Punjab for the first time in history. The last few years has also seen the rise of guards Narender Grewal and Joginder Singh into the Senior Indian men’s team. They both hail from Bamla village in Bhiwani district. Subsequently, at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship guard Vikas Kumar (from Dablain village in Jind District) was selected in the senior Indian team. The current junior Indian team at the 24th FIBA Asia Championship for U18 Men featured two Haryana players- Deepak (Israna Tehsil in Panipat Dist.) and Sahil (Kalka Tehsil in Panchkula Dist.). At the youth (U16) level in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship there was one Haryana player each in the boys and girls sections: Ankit Joshi (from Faridabad) and Namrata Hooda (from Kiloi Khas village in Rohtak Dist.). At the national level, Haryana’s younger age group teams, both in the boys and girls, consistently finish among India’s elite Level 1 states.