Puducherry, 12th January 2017: Quarterfinal action began on Day 6 of the 67thSenior National Basketball Championship here at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Puducherry. The first result was no surprise as Chhattisgarh booked a semi-final berth winning their game against Delhi. Poonam Chaturvedi put up another MVP type performance with 60 points in the game. Chhattisgarh’s strategy was simple – put the ball in Poonam’s hands in the post and she took care of the rest. Delhi was unable to contain the Chhattisgarh centre and fell to a 99-67 loss. Delhi captain Raspreet Sidhu put up 27 points.
Earlier in the day, on the outdoor courts, the Madhya Pradesh women’s team qualified for the quarterfinals with a tight win against Rajasthan (77-74). MP’s Sikkim import Nima Doma Bhutia was on fire pouring in 24 points in the game, including 9 straight down the stretch. Her teammate Namrata Huda scored the last four points to put her team up by 3 and close out the game. MP will have an uphill task against defending champions Indian Railways in the quarterfinals.
In the other women’s pre-quarterfinal, Karnataka fell to a spirited Maharashtra side in another nail-biter of a contest. Maharashtra’s international player Shireen Limaye was the difference between the two teams as she took over the game in the second half. Her 34 points in the game included 20 second-half points that kept her team in the contest. A couple of clutch triples by her teammate Rupali Tripathi (12 points) gave Maharashtra a 1-point lead, downing Karnataka 62-61. Maharashtra will face Kerala in the quarterfinals.
Telangana have entered the semi-finals of the Senior Nationals for the second year in a row with an 81-70 win against Tamil Nadu. R. Ramya and M. Gayatri combined for 58 points. Tamil Nadu attempted a late comeback, but it was not enough, as Telangana built an insurmountable lead in the first 3 quarters.
In the men’s pre-quarterfinals, Rajasthan and Haryana sealed quarterfinal berths with victories against Gujarat and Odisha respectively. Rajasthan will take on Karnataka in the quarters, while Haryana will square off against last year’s finalists Uttarakhand, later in the day.
The first men’s quarterfinal of the day saw Punjab shake off its poor run to put on its best performance of the tournament against the Indian Railways. The first half was a close affair with both teams putting up an offensive show. Railways centre Gagandeep Singh remained consistent down low, putting up 25 points in the game. For Punjab, forward Gurvinder Singh Gill (20 points) was effective in the post against the big Railways frontcourt. But in the second half, former India international TJ Sahi (27 points) came out all guns blazing and took over the game. The Railways team were unable to contain his drives and transition play as he turned the game on its head, giving Punjab a double-digit lead. He was ably assisted by guards Rajveer Singh (27 points) and Arshpreet Bhullar (22 points), who maintained Punjab’s 10+ point lead with timely buckets. Despite winning only one league game, Punjab has managed to qualify for the semi-finals where they hope to continue the momentum from this performance.
In the evening session, Kerala women trounced Maharashtra by over 40 points (73-30). Kerala had too much firepower for Maharashtra as they jumped onto an 18-2 lead in the first quarter. It was cruise control for Kerala the rest of the way. India international Jeena Scaria top scored with 22 points for Kerala.
The third men’s quarterfinal produced an unlikely semi-finalist in Rajasthan, who upset Group A toppers Karnataka. After working hard to get to Level 1, Rajasthan shone on the big stage, playing as a cohesive unit. They had a strong first quarter, but Karnataka fought back in the second and third periods. Karnataka displayed poor defense, giving a lot of open shots to Rajasthan, who moved the ball well throughout the game. Almost all Rajasthan players on the floor had the ability to shoot the ball from outside and their shooting percentages today were on point. A dominant fourth quarter sealed the deal for Rajasthan who closed out on an 83-70 win. They will face Tamil Nadu tomorrow in the semi-final.
In the last quarterfinals, Uttarakhand men made short work of Haryana, 60-35, in a one sided contest. Uttarakhand’s star studded line up showed their experience to progress to the semis.
Results from 12th January 2017 up to 8 pm
WOMEN
Quarterfinals:
- Chhattisgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 60, Sharanjeet Kaur 9, Sangeeta Kaur 9) bt Delhi (Raspreet Sidhu 27, Sushantika 23, Vinti 12) 99-67 (27-18, 24-16, 24-14, 14-19)
- Telangana (R. Ramya 34, M. Gayatri 24) bt Tamil Nadu (R. Varshanandini 29, V. Srividhya 11, KK Sruthi 11) 81-70 (23-15, 22-19, 26-13, 10-23)
- Indian Railways (Sruthi Menon 17, Madhu Kumari 13, Anjana Daisy Ekka 12) bt Madhya Pradesh (Nima Doma Bhutia 19, Namrata Huda 17) 95-46 (22-4, 23-18, 27-9, 23-15)
- Kerala (Jeena PS 22, Poojamol 12, Anjana PG 11) bt Maharashtra (Sakshi Arora 10, Rachel Netto 6, Ketaki Takale 5) 73-30 (18-2, 12-13, 25-5, 18-10)
Pre-Quarterfinals:
- Madhya Pradesh (Nima Doma Bhutia 24, Sakshi Pandey 16) bt Rajasthan (Nisha 32) 77-74 (16-14, 19-17, 21-22, 21-21)
- Maharashtra (Shireen Limaye 34, Rupali Tripathi 12) bt Karnataka (Priyanka P. 22, Bhandavya Gowda 16) 62-61 (15-12, 17-14, 15-19, 15-16)
MEN:
Quarterfinals:
- Punjab (Talwinder Jit Singh Sahi 27, Rajveer Singh 27, Arshpreet Bhullar 22, Gurvinder Singh 20) bt Indian Railways (Gagandeep Singh 25, Himanshu Sharma 20, Vijender Kumar 13, Palpreet Singh 10) 101-83 (21-23, 29-20, 20-18, 31-22)
- Tamil Nadu (P. Jeevanantham 17, G. Siva Balan 11, Prasanna Venkatesh 9, Pratham Singh 9) bt Kerala (Alvin Baby 19, Ajeeth Sugunan 10, Gineeb Binny 8) 72-52 (21-10, 19-8, 15-18, 17-16)
- Rajasthan (Bharatdeep 23, Vinod Kumar 17, Loon Singh 13, Sharad 13) bt Karnataka (Anil Kumar 21, Arvind Arumugam 19, Navin 12) 83-70 (21-12, 14-19, 23-26, 25-13)
- Uttarakhand (Trideep Rai 17, Amritpal Singh 10) bt Haryana (Pardeep Chauhan 14) 60-35 (30-10, 19-14, 2-5, 9-6)
Pre-Quarterfinals:
- Rajasthan (Sharad Dadhich 25, Vinod Kumar 22, Bharatdeep Singh 11) bt Gujarat (Shafiq Shaikh 19, Harpal Sinh 12, Indervijaysinh Gohil 9) 83-64 (27-14, 18-13, 17-21, 21-16)
- Haryana (Vikas Kumar 19, Pardeep Chauhan 17) bt Odisha (Ashok Kumar Nayak 21, Sahid Khan 12) 73-63 (18-20, 21-24, 22-8, 12-11)
About the 67th Senior National Basketball Championship 2017
The championship is being held 7th to 14th January. 27 men’s teams and 25 women’s teams have confirmed their participation.
The championship is being organised by the Puducherry Basketball Association under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India.
Matches are being simultaneously held on four different courts: the indoor and outdoor courts of the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium complex (Courts 1 & 2), and the two courts at the Petit Seminare School.
Defending champions Railways women will be the team to watch out for as it rekindles its rivalry with previous winners Chhattisgarh. In the men’s section, traditional powerhouses Services, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu will be vying for top honours.
29 international players from across the country will be adding their experience to the fray.
Relevant Links for further information
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
