The 43rd Kerala State Sub Junior Basketball Championship: Day 1

Thiruvalla, 22nd May, 2016: The 43rd Kerala State Sub Junior Basketball Championship was inagurated by Sanjayan Kumar (IFS), Director Sports & Youth affairs, after a march past by the participants. This was followed by Chairman of the organizing committee, Dr Sriram Vankataraan (IAS) introducing the chief guest, Fr. Thomas Mayaparambil.  Philiph Zacharia, Secretary PDBA, rendered the vote of thanks and K V Varghese, Chairman, Tiruvalla Municipality, was introduced to the players of the opening match.

Sanjayan Kumar (IFS) inaugurating the 43rd Kerala State Sub Junior Basketball Championship at Thiruvalla

This five day championship was organised by the Christ Central School, Thiruvalla, in association with Pathanamthitta District Basketball Association, under the auspicious of the Kerala Basketball Association. The teams are divided into four groups and the tournament will be played on a league cum knock-out basis. Additionally, two teams from each pool will qualify for the knock-out stage. 13 Districts in the boys category and 12 in the girls, are participating. The state team which will participate in the National Sub Junior Championship, to be held in Lal Bahadhur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, from October 1st to 7th, will be selected on the basis of their performance in this tournament. Kottayam in the boys section and Kozhikode in the girls, are the reigning champions.

In the opening match, Ernakulam boys defeated Pathanamthitta 36 to 19, with Thomas Zechariah scoring 10 points for Ernakulam, while in the other boys matches, Kozhikode beat Kollam (45-22), Alapuzha beat Palakkad (47-18). Idukki beat Kasargod (47-20), and drubbed  Palakkad (40-2), while in the girls category, Thrissur got off to a good start, as they drubbed Pathanamthitta (45-22). Alapuzha beat Malappuram (30-8) and Kannur got the better of Palakkad (25-9), while Kollam beat down Kasrgod (26-3).

Results on 22nd May

Girls

1. Thrissur 22 (Sanjana S 9) bt Pathanamthitta 2

2. Alapuzha 30 (Janu Sunil 8, Shilpa PJ 7) bt Malappuram 8

3. Kannur 25 (Ashrin Shiji 7) bt Palakkad 9

4. Kollam 26 (Dona Ivan 11) bt Kasargod 3

Boys

1. Kozhikode 45(Mohammed Fenzim 14, Safar Sam PC 10) bt Kollam 22

2. Alapuzha 47 (Binil Binu 10, Bicho Nelson 8) bt Palakkad 18 (Dikson 8)

3. Idukki 47 (Joel Vincent Mattam 13) bt Kasargod 20

4. Idukki 40 (Emmanuel T Shaibu 9) bt Palakkad 2

5. Erankulum 36(Thomas Zacharia 10, Anwin S Mattom 8, Sayyam Mohammed 6) bt Pathanamthitta 19 (Sidharth S 8, Rittu John 4)