Ramu Memorial Tournament ready to take-off

The Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament, a prestigious all India basketball competition now in its 26th edition, is ready to tip off from Feb 21. The tournament is held at the Indian Gymkhana in Mumbai and will last a whole week. It features some of the top (men and women) teams in the country fighting for the coveted trophy.

From the official website:

The hallmark and annual feature of [the Gymkhana's] activities is the Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament, which was first started in the year 1966. Besides, the various tournaments and events that gymkhana organizes, Ramu Memorial has become an Household name in the basketball and sporting circles, not only in the western part of the country, but all over.
In 2009, the Silver Jubilee of All-India Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament was conducted in a very grand and befitting manner. The most significant aspect and highlight of the tournament was honoring of all former greats of Basketball, who had played an important part in popularizing the tournament, since early 1970s / 1980s.


This tournament is played in a specially erected stadium, having a seating capacity of 5000 spectators and the matches are held under floodlights.

This year's tournament will feature the following teams:

Men:

Western Railway
ONGC
Chennai Customs
Vijaya Bank
Indian Overseas Bank
Services
Punjab
RCF - Kapurtala

Women

Southern Railway
SEC Railway
Karnataka
Aamchi Mumbai

Superstar players such as Talwinderjeet Singh "TJ" Sahi, S. Robinson, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and many others will be taking part in the tournament.



Held to much fanfare, last year was the Silver jubilee of the tournament, won by Western Railways and Southern Railways in the Men's and Women's competitions respectively.

Indian basketball fans - this is your chance to support and watch some of the best of our country's talent. The tournament will be an entertaining event and be a big push towards promoting basketball in India. DD Sports and All India Radio FM 101.7 have already been partnered for live coverage of the tournament's semi-finals and finals.

See more about the tournament on its official website. I will be posting updates/news regularly.