#14: Chhattisgarh girls and Tamil Nadu boys progress to finals
Ludhiana, Punjab, 8th October 2015: The semifinal stage arrived on Day 7 of the 66th Junior National Basketball Championship in Ludhiana, Punjab. The first semifinal was scheduled between the Tamil Nadu and Haryana boys. As the third place team in the 2014 Junior Nationals, Tamil Nadu was eager to climb higher and reach the final. On the other hand, Haryana have looked in top form and came off a thrilling extra time victory in their quarterfinal match against Rajasthan.
Both teams seemed evenly matched and the first half was a close affair. Haryana’s point guard Sonu Kumar remained consistent in orchestrating his team’s offense. His ability to penetrate bothered the Tamil Nadu defense as he got to the basket multiple times. Tamil Nadu point guard S. Kalidas got his midrange game going in the first half with his ability to stop and pop from the elbow region. The first half ended with the scores at 43-43.
In the second half, Tamil Nadu was a bit sluggish as Haryana took a slim lead. But towards the end of the third quarter and in the fourth, Tamil Nadu took over the game. R. Hari Ram and P. Baladhaneshwar carried the scoring load for Tamil Nadu in the fourth quarter as they outscored Haryana 36 to 18. The real difference was in the rebounding. Tamil Nadu outrebounded Haryana 58 to 36. R. Hari Ram pulled down 11 boards, while backup Tamil Nadu centre Dhimant Sahi had a double-double of his own with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Deepak put in 22 points for Haryana in a losing effort. Tamil Nadu won the game 99-85 and advanced to the final scheduled tomorrow.
The second semifinal of the day was a girls match between defending champions Chhattisgarh and home team Punjab. Chhattisgarh have been unbeaten in the tournament so far and Punjab had an uphill task ahead of them. The game turned out to be a one-sided affair as the undersized Punjab team could not contain the Chhattisgarh offense. Chhattisgarh 6 foot plus centre Jonali Dutta towered over the Punjab defense and managed to put up a huge double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Vandana had 23 points of her own for Chhattisgarh who pulled away early in the game and enjoyed a big lead throughout. Punjab’s Gagandeep Kaur kept battling and scored 17 points in the game. But she did not get enough support from her teammates who were overwhelmed by the defending champs. In the end, Chhattisgarh cruised to a 78-49 victory and booked a place in the final for the second straight year.
Results from Day 7 up to 6 pm
SEMIFINALS:
Girls:
Chhattisgarh (Vandana 23, Jonali Dutta 12, Riya 12) bt Punjab (Gagandeep Kaur 17, Sandhya Kumari 8) 78-49 (13-9, 21-15, 18-12, 26-13)
Boys:
Tamil Nadu (R. Hari Ram 35, P. Baladhaneshwar 20, S. Kalidas 19) bt Haryana (Sonu Kumar 20, Deepak (jersey no. 14) 18, Sonu Kumar 13) 99-85 (22-22, 21-21, 20-24, 36-18)
PLACEMENT MATCHES
Girls:
9th and 10th place classification:
Madhya Pradesh (Sakshi 28, Shivangi 17) bt Rajasthan (Kamlesh 28, Anushree 8) 76-61 (18-19, 17-13, 21-16, 20-13)
Classification for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th places:
Tamil Nadu (S. Gayathri 12) bt Maharashtra (Swapnali 12) 47-16 (22-0, 6-8, 13-6, 6-2)
5th and 6th place:
Maharashtra (Shreya 25, Suyosha 18) bt Haryana (Surya 19, Bharti 14, Namrata 13) 69-56 (12-9, 18-21, 16-15, 23-11)
7th and 8th place:
Tamil Nadu (V. Srividhya 19, S. Gayathri 13, Srishti Suren 8) bt Uttar Pradesh (Vaishnavi Yadav 20, Anjana Singh 6) 57-39 (18-16, 17-12, 7-2, 15-9)
Boys:
Classification for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th places:
Kerala (Antony 23, Sugeeth 12, Akhil 11) bt Chandigarh (Abhishek (captain) 18, Ahishek 10, Jatin 9) 80-51 (19-12, 27-15, 17-18, 17-6)
Maharashtra (Nahata 12, Sayyad 12) bt Rajasthan (Mohd. 14, Devesh 10) 52-48 (9-15, 12-15, 12-10, 19-8)
9th and 10th place classification:
Madhya Pradesh (Mithun Das 14, Ashish 14, Gautam 14) bt Uttar Pradesh (Shivam 25, Ashwani 11, Deepak 10) 99-97(24-22, 15-25, 20-22, 31-21, Extra time 9-7)
About the 66th Junior National Basketball Championship
The 66th Junior National Basketball Championship is being organised in Ludhiana, Punjab. The tournament for the ‘18 and under’ category is scheduled from October 2 to October 9 2015 in the basketball hotbed of Punjab, which has produced numerous star international players. The Punjab Basketball Association is the organising body for the tournament under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India. The venue for the championship is the courts at the Guru Nanak Stadium. There is one indoor court and two outdoor courts at the venue.
Last year’s Junior National Championship was held in Kochi, Kerala. Home team Punjab boys were the winners of the 65thversion of the tournament; while Delhi came runners up and Tamil Nadu were the third placed team in the boys’ category. For the girls, Chhattisgarh are the defending champions, who defeated the Kerala girls in the final last year. Uttar Pradesh girls achieved third place.
This year’s tournament will witness the participation of 24 states, each with a boys’ and girls’ team. The last time a national level basketball championship was held in Ludhiana was the Senior National Basketball Championship in 2012-13.
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 at www.basketballfederationindia.org
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