Punjab men and Kerala women continue strong play

Tamil Nadu with an easy lay up against Kerala

Mysuru, 12^th January 2016: In the morning session of day 4 of the 66^th Senior National Basketball Championship, the hitherto undefeated Indian Railways women were firing on all cylinders against last year’s runners up Delhi. Railways completely overpowered their undersized opponents, with forward Apporva Muralinath leading the way with 20 points.

Punjab slams one home against Delhi

Punjab and Tamil Nadu men (both 3-0) and on top of their respective groups A and B are now assured of quarterfinal spots, with one game to spare. In the women’s section undefeated Kerala, Telangana, Indian Railways (all 3-0 with one game left) are through to the knockout stages, accompanied by Delhi (3-1). Despite today’s unexpected loss to Telangana, defending champions Chhattisgarh (2-2) are also through to the quarterfinals as the third placed team from Group A.

Telangana women shock Chhattisgarh

Later in the morning, defending champions Chhattisgarh women took on the upstart Telangana team later in the morning. The Telangana women’s side have been the surprise of the tournament so far with strong play in all their matches. Telangana executed to perfection today against Chhattisgarh sticking to their fast-paced style of play and knocking down their open shots. Despite last year’s MVP Poonam Chaturvedi putting up huge numbers with 46 points and 19 rebounds, Chhattisgarh’s other players had a poor shooting day. Telangana played tight defense forcing 20 turnovers from the Chhattisgarh side, while limited their own turnovers to just 7. For Telangana, Anusha Anto put up a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, including 9 offensive rebounds. Divya P. for Telangana also had a big game with 23 points. All of Telangana’s players crashed the boards to pull down 23 offensive rebounds leading to 23 second-chance points. Telangana pulled away in the final minutes to clinch a 79-72 victory.

Poonam Chhattisgarh's centre pulling up for a shot against Telangana

Telangana men, however, failed to register a single victory in the tournament, losing today against the Indian Railways men. Railways established a lead early in the game and maintained it throughout to register a 94-53 victory, led by Somvier’s 21 points and Raj Kalbhor’s 15 points.

Level 2 to Level 1 Qualifying Matches

Level 2 qualifying matches (i.e. matches to decide which teams qualified from Level 2 to Level 1) also took place today. Gujarat men continued their good form with a 75-56 victory against Rajasthan to advance to the pre-quarterfinals. In the women’s section, West Bengal and Rajasthan also progressed to the pre-quarterfinals stage.

Kerala women continue strong play

Kerala women kept their win-streak alive as they overpowered Maharashtra today afternoon. Jeena PS took the spotlight yet again, shooting 75% from the field, making 25 points. Kerala ended up with a comfortable victory by a margin of 30 points.

Maharashtra drives into a strong Kerala defence

In the men’s level 1 games in the second half of the day, defending champions Uttarakhand bounced back from their disappointing loss yesterday to defeat Haryana today. Led by their captain, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Uttarakhand put up a spectacular show with some highlight plays including alley-oops and fancy passing. Veteran centre Murali Krishna top scored for his team with 24 points as Uttarakhand pulled off a 28-point win.

Punjab men register another win

The resurgent Punjab men’s team, brimming with confidence after their victory against the defending champions yesterday, faced the Delhi team today, who were also coming off a victory against Karnataka. The game was closer than expected with Delhi putting up a good fight led by their centre Gopal Ram and guard Parveen Dovan. For Punjab, TJ Sahi continued his fine form in his comeback tournament leading the way on offense for his side. In a back-and-forth game, Delhi held the lead entering the fourth quarter, but Punjab pulled away with aggressive play in the final five minutes. TJ Sahi and Ranbir Singh knocked down shots late in the game to seal the deal for Punjab.

The loser knockout quarterfinals in the afternoon saw Himachal Pradesh defeating Gujarat on the back of Jyothika’s 18 points, while Andhra Pradesh defeated Chandigarh to advance to the loser knockout semi-finals. In the loser knockout quarterfinals for men, West Bengal defeated Himachal Pradesh, while Maharashtra beat Odisha, to move to the loser knockout semis.

Referees Clinic from 14^th

Besides on-court action, the Basketball Federation of India in association with Karnataka State Basketball Association will also be organizing the FIBA Asia Development Plan - Referees clinic at the Chamundi Stadium, Mysuru from 14^th to 16^th January, 2016. This will be conducted by Mr. Heros Avanesian, Head of Competition – Asia, International Basketball Federation, FIBA Asia.

As per the FIBA Asia directives & guidelines it is mandatory for all National and FIBA Active referees to participate in the clinic. Non-participants or referees who fail the tests will be deprived from officiating FIBA ASIA events.

Results from Day 4 up to 6 pm

Level 1:

Women:

1. Indian Railways (Appoorva Muralinath 20, Anitha Paul-Durai 14, Sitamani Tudu 10) bt Delhi (Pratima Singh 9) 83-33 [6-12, 35-5, 23-14, 19-2]

2. Telangana (P. Divya 23, Anusha Anto 19, Aishwarya Nataraj 18) bt Chhattisgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 46, Saranjeet Kaur 18) 79-72 (17-16, 15-22, 23-18, 24-16)

3. Kerala (Jeena PS 25, Anjana PG 13, Stephy Nixon 11) bt Maharashtra (Manisha Dange 17, Shireen Limaye 13) 65-35 [18-16, 25-4, 12-10, 10-5]

Men:

1. Indian Railways (Somvier S. 21, Raj Kalbhor 15, Ajay Pratap Singh 14) bt Telangana (Harish N. 13, David Boon 12, Ambati Prudhvi Reddy 12) 94-53 (23-19, 21-17, 25-11, 25-6)

2. Uttarakhand (Murali Krishna 24, Trideep Rai 18, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 11) bt Haryana (N Narendran 16, V Virendar 9) 83-55 [19-12, 30-16, 11-18, 23-9]

3. Punjab (TJ Sahi 24, Ranbir Singh Virdi 17, Gagandeep Singh 16) bt Delhi (Parveen Dovan 27, Gopal Ram 27, Sachin Sharma 15) 99-89 (22-25, 24-15, 20-29, 33-20)

Level 2:

Men:

Group C:

1. Chhattisgarh (Dinesh Mishra 34, Rudrashk Pandey 16, Rajesh 14, Kiran 11) bt Chandigarh (Ravi 20, Bipin 19, Pulkit Sood 18, Gurinder Singh 15) 90-76 [25-12, 26-20, 20-23, 19-21]

Group D:

1. Bihar (Yogesh Kumar 16, Hemnath Hooda 15, Deepak Kumar 12) bt Himachal Pradesh (Deepak Thakur 14, Ashwani Kumar 14) 62-43 (11-12, 8-15, 22-10, 21-6)

Qualifying matches (Level 2 to Level 1):

Women:

1. Rajasthan (Nisha 29, Surya 13, Kumud 12) bt Uttar Pradesh (Vaishnavi Yadav 28, Shivani 12, Shruthi 9) 77-67 (19-18, 21-18, 16-15, 21-16)

2. West Bengal (Madhu Kumari 24, Anjana Dezy 17, Libin A. 17) bt Odisha (Suvanki 18, Rajashree 12, Jayashree 12) 76-52 (21-10, 22-9, 13-21, 20-12)

Men:

1. Gujarat (Dishant Shah 19, Vinay Kaushik 12, Harpal 11) bt Rajasthan (Kamran Khan 23, Saurabh Badaya 14) 75-56 (25-6, 21-14, 10-16, 19-20)

Loser Knockout Quarterfinals:

Women:

1. Bihar (Divya Pandey 17, GS Sravanthi 15) bt Jammu and Kashmir (Amarpreet Kaur 10) 55-21 (16-6, 8-5, 25-5, 6-5)

2. Andhra Pradesh (B Bhavani 18, Naga Durga 14) bt Chandigarh (A Sweety 14) 54-40 [12-14, 15-4, 14-10, 13-12]

3. Himachal Pradesh (Jyothika 18, Nayana Devi 15, Bindu Sharma 10) bt Gujarat (T Nidhi 11, R Dubey 10) 59-48 [17-14, 14-12, 8-11, 20-11]

Men:

1. Maharashtra (Pradeep P. 32, Ajinkya Mane 17) bt Odisha (Lagnajeet 14, K. Sravan Kumar 11) 79-47 (20-15, 18-9, 22-12, 19-11)

2. West Bengal (J Sagar 29, S Amar 13, S Dheeraj 13) bt Himachal Pradesh (K Anoop 13, T Deepak 12) 78-51 [19-11, 18-19, 20-11, 21-12]

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