Maharashtra Boys; Chhattisgarh Girls win 2011 Sub Jr. National Basketball Championship

Basketball fans in Lucknow were given a visual treat on Friday evening as the best under-14 teams from around India clashed in the Finals of the 38th Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in the city’s RDSO court. Eight days of exciting hoops action ended in fitting manner as the boys’ final saw Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra fight neck-no-neck in a classic final, which was finally won by Maharashtra. The Girls’ championship was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, and for the seventh consecutive year, it was Chhattisgarh who emerged as Sub Jr champions.

Basketball fans couldn’t have asked for a better final than the face-off between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh Boys, two teams with contrasting but effective styles. The teams stayed close throughout: Andhra Pradesh using taking advantage of their length and speed, while Maharashtra relied on their skill and passing. AP had a slim, one point lead at the end of the half, but couldn’t extend on the advantage: neither side was able to go over more than four point of their opponent for the majority of the game.

With the game reaching its last moments, Maharashtra had overturned the score and had a three point lead in the fourth quarter, thanks to their talented guards who penetrated and passed very well all night. AP made some crucial mistakes in the end, and Maharashtra’s Zaid Shaikh pulled out big, level-headed plays to give his side a 61-58 win and the National championship.

“We had practiced very hard for this championship, and came ready to dominate,” said Shaikh, “We had beaten AP in a blowout early in this championship, so we had to be wary of their backlash tonight. Luckily, we were able to play well in the end and win – our team’s strength was our great combination.”

M. Siva Durga of AP led all scorers in the final with 16 points.

The girls’ final was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Chhattisgarh Girls have been an unstoppable force in the Sub-Junior level, and win another big victory on Friday, won their 10th championship in 11 years. Chhattisgarh, who have been the best team in the competition, were in no mood for a slip-up in the final, as they started strong and refused to slow down against their opponents. Saving their best defensive performance for the finale, Chhattisgarh outscored Karnataka 36-7 in a devastating first half.

Chhattisgarh’s defense focused around stopping Karnataka’s Lopamudra, who had been the best individual player in the girls’ section in the tournament. With Lopa on check, Chhattisgarh were able to cruise in the second half and celebrate their seventh consecutive Sub-Junior national title with a 64-21 victory. Riya Verma led Chhattisgarh in the final with 23 points.

“We are a strong team because we are very united,” said P. Divya, the captain of the Chhattisgarh side, “We were prepared for this team because we had defeated them in the final last year, and in this year’s tournament, we knew that our team was too strong for any opponent.”

Earlier on Friday, the 3rd/4th place games were held: In the boys’ game, Punjab overcame a slow start against Chhattisgarh to make a strong comeback and win 70-47. Punjab were led by Guksewala (21 points) and Abhi (16). For Chhattisgarh, Mithun, who had scored 46 points in a loss to AP in the semi-final only the previous night, led the scoring charge of his team with 18 points in the 3rd/4th place playoff.

In the girls’ game, Maharashtra played a strong second quarter to overturn the score against Kerala and then race to a 48-37 win to clinch third place. Maharashtra were led by Veera who had 16 points.

Mr. V Ramachandran, the Director-General of RDSO, was the chief guest at the final and handed out the prize-winners trophies. “I was very glad to see the talent on display here and wish to see many of these players representing India one day,” said Ramachandran, “My best wishes go out to all those who took part in this championship. I would also like to thank the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), and RDSO for conducting this big event.

For the first time in the Sub-Junior nationals, individual prizes were given for the Most Promising Players of the tournament. With the award, the individual players were also given a cash prize of Rs. 5000 each. The awards were given to:

Boys: M. Shiva Durga (Andhra Pradesh)
Girls: Riya Verma (Chhattisgarh)

Final Scores

Boys: Maharashtra (Shaikh Zaid 13, Astekar Aditya 12, Shaikh Mearaj 11, Shaikh Hammd 11) bt. Andhra Pradesh (M.Siva Durga 16, B.Neeraj Kumar 11, P.Durga Prasad 10) 61-58 (18-15, 13-17, 14-10, 16-16)

Girls: Chhattisgarh (Riya Verma 23, P.Divya 12) bt. Karnataka 64-21 (23-6, 13-1, 7-2, 21-12)

3rd/4th Place Matches

Boys: Punjab (Guksewala 21, Abhi 16, Sukhder 13) bt. Chhattisgarh (Mithun 18, Hitesh 12) 70-47 (10-15, 15-9, 19-9, 26-14)

Girls: Maharashtra (Veera 16) bt. Kerala (Aleena 14) 48-37 (10-12, 12-4, 12-10, 14-11)

Finals Standings

Boys
1. Maharashtra
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Punjab

Girls
1. Chhattisgarh
2. Karnataka
3. Maharashtra

Why Basketball? 7 young ballers reveal what drew them to love playing hoops

In its immense length, breadth, and variety, there are few if any countries as unique as India. In the basketball realm, this uniqueness is reinforced during the national championships, where state teams from nearly every single corner of the country come together for a week or 10 days to take part in a colourful basketball festival. Within a matter of hours, the same basketball court could witness players who speak Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Mizo, and a host of other languages.

The city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh is currently hosting the Sub-Jr (U-14) National Championship: and what makes this level of basketball nationals even more special is that fact that the sub-juniors (or the ‘mini’ as it used to be known) features the youngest members of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) family. For most of the young kids in this tournament, this championship is their first taste of the growing nationwide basketball society in India: those that grew up playing basketball in Kerala will realise that Gujarati players follow a similar regime to their known; those who were trained in Assam see that players from Andhra Pradesh shoot the same way.

Their backgrounds, languages, social standings, religions, and schooling may be different: but these kids share two things in common – their age level, and their love for the game of basketball.

This presented a wonderful opportunity to find out what brought them all together to this game. Why choose basketball? From an inspiring older sibling, to a motivating coach, to an unexplainable, inbred affection for the game, here are seven 13-year-olds from around India who discuss what drew them to love playing hoops. See if you share any of the same stories:

Asmita Nain from Kaithal, Haryana

“When I was young, I used to watch my seniors play in school, and I felt that this could be my game. When I got into basketball, it was just like getting into any other hobby, but during the course of my learning, I came across an important quote that made me realise that this was really the game for me. On a notice-board in school, I saw the words: ‘Basketball is 90 percent mental, and ten percent physical’, and this is something I agreed with.”

Sambed Prasad from Bangalore, Karnataka

“I’m quite tall for my age, and so naturally, I was encouraged to try out this game. One of my father’s friends was a former distinguished player and he suggested to us that, with my height, I could have good potential. I immediately began to like the game myself because it is so fast-paced!”

Samita Lama from Maligaon, Guwahati, Assam

“I have an older cousin sister back in Assam who used to play very well. She played in several Nationals and told interesting stories about them. I was very encouraged by her. Then, my father also wanted me to get into this game and wanted me to become a good player. He introduced me to a good coach in the local stadium in my town, and from then onwards, my game started to improve!”

Rahul Hitesh Purohit from Vadodara, Gujarat

“Basketball is a fast-paced and enjoyable game. I picked the game up only as a hobby at first to stay fit, but soon it became my passion, and now I’m at the Nationals!”

Nikhil Narayan from Chennai, Tamil Nadu

“My family has been playing basketball for several generations. I started playing it when I was just in UKG, when I was just four or five years old! I had a great coach back home who taught me the game I grew older and helped me develop. I was also inspired by NBA players that I watched on TV and I wanted to play like them. Basketball is a good game that helps us stay healthy. But for me it’s more than that: I feel that this game is part of my nature.”

Zaid Sheikh from Mumbai, Maharashtra

“I can’t think of any other game besides from basketball – from the time I was eight years old, I picked up the basketball and then, never practiced any other game! I was inspired by my older brother who also played the game. I saw a certain style and energy in it when he played it and I liked it.”


Shaffy Garg from Mansa District, Punjab

“I used to watch older players in my school play basketball, and I was very attracted to it. I started playing, but at first, there were no girls in my school who played basketball, so I used to play with the boys! It was only later on that I began playing the game with girls! Basketball is the game that I understand the best, and that is why I stick with it.”

Now, reader: tell me your story? What made you choose basketball?

62nd Junior National Basketball Championship will bring 51 teams to New Delhi

26 boys’ and 25 girls’ under-18 teams have confirmed entry into the 62nd Junior National Basketball Championship in New Delhi from July 5-12th. The championship will be organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Delhi Basketball Association (DBA). The matches will be played in fully air-conditioned indoor courts at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium.

Players born on or after 01.01.1993 are eligible to participate.

The participating teams are:

Boys: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

Girls: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

Punjab (Boys) and Kerala (Girls) won the 61st Junior National Basketball Championship, which were from October 24-31 in Vashi (Maharashtra).

Delhi Boys; Kerala Girls become 2011 Youth Champions

On an evening where India’s best young basketball talent competed against each other to win the top prize, the real winner was the spectacle basketball. The Finals of the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls were held at Divisional Sports Complex at Nagpur (Maharashtra) on Thursday – in both the boys’ and girls’ Finals, each team saved its best defense for last. The boys from the capital side Delhi used their length to snuff out a strong Madhya Pradesh side to lift the title. In the girls’ section, last year’s youth winners Kerala continued their hot streak, going undefeated in this year’s edition and beating a strong Chhattisgarh side in the final to become repeat champions.

The Boys Final was a defensive juggernaut, as both teams played their toughest defense to deny their opponents from getting any shots at the basket. Both teams were quick and athletic, but baskets weren’t coming easy for anyone. Delhi led most of the way though, especially behind the rare combination of skill and size shown by Pradeep Kumar. MP committed too many turnovers as Delhi took a big lead – MP attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter, even making it a three point game with just 5:24 left on the clock, but Delhi regrouped well after a timeout and enjoyed their best offense in the tournament’s last five minutes, cruising to a 58-47 win.

Neither side was spectacular from the field, as MP shot 26 percent, and the winners, Delhi, just 21 percent. But Delhi’s players, led by Akimjeet Singh, did an incredible job attacking the basket, winning fouls and getting to the free throw line. The 17-5 difference in free throws made was also the difference maker between the two teams.

“We prepared for this tournament one day at a time,” said jubilant Delhi coach JN Nehra, “We studied the strategy and playing style of each opponent that we faced, and we prepared for each one differently. That helped us get to the top.”

There was no stopping Kerala as they out-dueled Chhattisgarh in an entertaining Girls’ final. Poojamol KS, who had been Kerala’s best player all tournament, put up her best performance in the Final, putting in 40 points and grabbing 13 rebounds – her opposite number, Anjana Ekka of Chhattisgarh, also gave a tough fight, scoring 37 points to go with 13 rebounds and game-high 6 blocks.

The Girls’ final started slowly, but Chhattisgarh quickly took control of the game. Kerala boasted of several long and athletic players, but they ran into a big roadblock as Chhattisgarh’s 6 foot 6 inch Centre Poonam Chaturvedi guarded the post. But Poojamal was too swift for even Chhattisgarh’s defense, and she shot a high percentage en-route to her 40 point night. Kerala did a great job in combating Chhattisgarh’s size with speed.

The game was reminiscent of Chhattisgarh’s semi-final with Maharashtra, where they came back big in the second half for a close win. It was a different story in the Final: Kerala continued to play well in the second, isolating Anjana Ekka who was on a shooting spree for Chhatisgarh. Poojamal and the rest of Kerala went blow for blow with Anjana, and in the end, there would be no comeback as Kerala won 70-61.

“I was very confident about this game,” Poojamal exclaimed after clinching the title for her side, “Our team had a lot of practice before this tournament to deal with pressure situations such as this final, and I was ready tonight. I am very happy about winning this championship and it is a great achievement for the state of Kerala.”

Mr. Harish Sharma, CEO of the BFI, congratulated all the players who participated in he championship, and added, "I'm proud of these young stars, they have worked hard for this achievement and I hope that they will have a great future. Basketball in India is at a turning point and it will be these young players who will lead the way in the coming years."

Earlier in the day, the host Maharashtra side, whose boys’ and girls’ teams had both lost at the Semi-Final stage, played in the third-place playoff matches. Maharashtra Boys faced a motivated Chhattisgarh, who led the game from start to end for a comfortable 73-56 win. Akash Bhasin, one of the tournament’s best scorers, had 32 points for Chhattisgarh, while T. Shantanu paced Maharashtra with 26.

In the Girls’ playoff, the highly-touted Maharashtra team shrugged off the disappointing semi-final loss to Chhattisgarh from a day earlier and won a highly-competitive game against the speedy girls from Haryana. Haryana Girls, one of the stories of the tournament, stayed neck to neck with Maharashtra throughout the game. In the third, Maharashtra finally opened up a big lead as their stars Shireen Limaye (17 points) and Shruti Menon (16) began to click. Haryana’s fourth quarter comeback wasn’t enough as they lost 70-63. Rimpy Hooda had 21 points for Haryana and Bharti Sihag added 18.

Final Scores

Boys: Delhi (Akimjeet Singh 16, Pradeep Kumar 15, Pankaj Rathi 15) bt. Madhya Pradesh (Shivam Mishra 23) 58-47 (14-9, 13-9, 7-13, 24-16).

Girls: Kerala (Poojamol KS 40, Arthy Vimal 12) bt. Chhattisgarh (Anjana Ekka 37) 70-61 (16-21, 9-15, 20-16, 16-18).

3rd/4th Place Playoffs

Boys: Chhattisgarh (Akash Basin 32, Saif Hashmi 10, M. David Boon 10) bt. Maharashtra (T. Shantanu 26, Rohan Ramesh 11) 73-56 (21-16, 19-15, 16-12, 17-13).

Girls: Maharashtra (Shireen Limaye 17, Sruthi Menon 16, Ishwari Pingle 11, Kritika Divadkar 11) bt. Haryana (Rimpy Hooda 21, Bharti Sihag 18, Monika Vats 11) 70-63 (23-21, 14-12, 22-12, 11-18).

With new indoor stadium, Nagpur looks to become a major centre for basketball in India

In the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra is the ‘Zero Mile Stone’, the spot ‘geographical centre’ of India. The Zero Mile Stone is supposedly equidistant from all corners of India. The exact geographical coordinates will obviously be a little different, but this is the spot which we consider to be the centre of India’s massive 3.29 lakh square kilometer area.


Less than six kilometers away from this milestone is another important landmark, another place where the rest of India is starting to slowly converge. This place is Nagpur’s brand new Indoor Basketball Stadium of the Divisional Sports Complex, and this week, this court in Nagpur has welcomed young Indian basketball players from all four corners of the country – from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala, from Gujarat to Manipur – a total of 24 boys’ and 23 girls’ teams from different states are taking part in the Youth National Basketball Championship here from May 26th – June 2.

The new stadium, featuring two basketball courts and a capacity of 5,000, is the icing on the cap of several years of improvement in the hoops culture of the city. The foundation stone for this stadium was laid back in 1999, but after lying dormant for nearly a decade, a flurry of activity and interest by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) encouraged the authorities in the city to accelerate the completion progress – it was fitting then, that, this stadium was inaugurated with a major basketball event, the Youth Nationals, on May 26th, 2011 by Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. These are the first basketball nationals to ever take place in the city.

And just like the growth of infrastructure and a facility that many would consider amongst the best for basketball in India, the game in the city of Nagpur, which also lay dormant for several decades, has shown considerable growth over the past few years.

Nagpur is also known as the ‘Orange City’ for its world-famous Santreys. In 1967, the city welcomed another orange-coloured, round entity as its own – the basketball! The Nagpur District Basketball Association (NDBA) was founded in 1967. Since then, Nagpur has produced a few legendary players – Manjiri Mandpe remains the only player from the city to have represented India. She is a Chhatrapati Award Winner, the highest Sports Award given in Maharashtra. Other basketball players to receive this award from Nagpur over the years have been Pankaj Deshmukh, Shatrughna Gokhale, Sonal Kawde Deshmukh, Archana Muley, and Satish Warrier, who at seven feet, is remembered as the tallest player to represent the Orange City.

Until recently though, the city didn’t exactly resonate with the word basketball – Nagpur rarely put up great performance in the Maharashtra State Championships and the city’s hoopsters had few options of honing their games.

But things have started to change over the past few years. The NDBA’s secretary Anup Rajorkar borrowed an idea of the NBDL, or the Development League of the National Basketball Association in the USA, and he launched a D-League in the city of Nagpur three years ago. Featuring 14 different basketball clubs in Nagpur, each of whom have their own home court, the players take part in competitive league for about a month every years. The league is held for four different age groups and for both the male and female sections.

“The results of the D-League has shown direct improvement in the Nagpur district basketball team,” said Rajurkar, “It has helped in the development of several players and now, both our boys and girls teams have are starting to show good performances in the State Nationals.”

Then, after the success of the D-League, Rajurkar helped to launch his next project in the city– the Chevrolet Motors Nagpur Competitive League (NCL). This is a franchise-based , under-13 league, for boys and girls, with every team having an owner. “Nagpur’s Mini (U13) has also improved since this league,” Rajurkar added.

Now, several of the older players from the city are getting a run in their city’s new court – Nikunj Chandak and Rahul Pisipati are representing Maharashtra’s Youth Boys team, while Mathlee Joshi plays for the state’s girls’ side.

With a glitzy new court, a couple of competitive new leagues, and improving young talent, the present of Nagpur basketball is good, and the future could be even better. Rajurkar hopes to bring in more tournaments into the city, and even bring in India’s Senior National teams for a camp into the new court.

In the city that is already the geographical centre of the country, it’s ambition for becoming an important centre for basketball is now closer to becoming a reality.

From player to coach, Manisha Dange looks to complete the hoops cycle

Could an early bloomer also be a late bloomer? How many stars dominate at a young age, and as they grow older, find the inspiration to bloom again, into a different kind of star? From a star young player, to an inspirational veteran, and now planting the seeds of a potential coaching career, Maharashtra’s Manisha Dange hopes to do it all.

Three months ago, Manisha Dange and Shireen Limaye were playing on the same court on the same squad: the former a 30-year-old legend of Maharashtra’s women’s basketball; the latter had just turned 16 and was already being touted as the next big thing in women’s basketball in India. Dange, as the team’s captain, and Limaye, as the young, do-it-all sparkplug, led an exciting Maharashtra Women’s team into the Federation Cup at Raipur.

Three months later, the faces are the same, but the roles have changed: it is the Youth (U16) National Basketball Championship in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Dange and Limaye’s home-court, and the Maharashtra team is captained by Limaye, who is the most experienced young star leading a group of girls who are relatively fresh to the big stage. But Dange is here too – staying involved with Maharashtra and her young teammate as the coach of the U16 side.

The transformation to coach for teammate has been seamless for Dange. “I’m only the team’s coach on the court,” Dange says, “Outside it, I’m more a Didi - an older sister – than a coach. The difference of age between me and Shireen or any of the other girls isn’t too much, so they are comfortable with me. I have to be strict but allow the girls to have their fun.”

“Because I’ve been a player myself I can understand the girls and know exactly how it feels to travel for a tournament, feel the pressure, and perform at this stage. During basketball games, working now as a coach, I get to see understand many of my own faults as a player and find a way not just to improve my coaching ability but also my playing ability.”

And as she continues to discover her coaching attributes and rediscover her talents as a player, Dange makes sure to indicate that she has enough gas to keep both her careers going. “I want to continue playing and coaching simultaneously,” she said, “This is just the first step: I want to keep progressing as a coach as time passes and keep playing for as long as possible, too.”

Her star player, Shireen Limaye, doesn’t believe that Dange’s shift from player to coach has been a complicated affair. “She has been and is still a very good player,” Limaye says of Dange, “Even as a team-mate, she is always a coach on court – she has always making sure to train us and give us advice, and we used to practice drills with her as team-mates that I now practice with her as coach. It is an advantage for us to have a coach who is also a good active player.”

This is Dange’s second attempt at leading Maharashtra’s U16 Girls squad at the Youth Nationals – she was also the team’s coach last year when they went for the Nationals in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. This time around, the pressure to perform as hosts and as one of the most talented young teams in the competition is squarely on Dange’s side.

“Our team has a lot of positives,” Dange said, “The biggest of them all, obviously, is Shireen. But this year, we have come prepared physically to be the best and put up a good show as the hosts. Before this tournament, the girls took part in an 18-day fitness camp in Vashi, which helped them improved their speed, agility and overall fitness.”

The current Maharashtra Girls side also has a good size advantage and will hope to exploit it against most of their other opponents.

As a player, Dange has been here and done it all before. Hailing from Thane in Mumbai, she picked up the game when she was only 12 years old, but didn’t make her first major Nationals until the youth/U16 stage, the same stage at which she has made her coaching debut nearly 15 years later. From then on, the game of basketball began opening several new avenues for her: she was picked to play for Railways at the age of 18 – a move she calls the ‘best moment of her basketball career’ – and she represented India in two crucial tournaments in 2007: the FIBA Asia Championships in South Korea and an Invitational Tournament in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

Although she won’t be making a comeback to the Indian National team soon, she continues to be a dominating and respected figure in Maharashtra Basketball – besides, it is now the turn for her teammate/star-pupil to shine: Shireen Limaye has become the youngest player to get a call-up for the Indian Senior National Camp in New Delhi, and she will have a shot at making her own debut with India’s Senior National team at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in Japan this August.

As she has experienced the past and the evolving present of basketball in India, Dange is hopeful for the future that Limaye and other young stars of the country. “The current crop of stars have a good future,” she says, “They are getting a lot of opportunities now, and will soon get a lot more exposure and returns for their hard-work in the game.”

But for now, ‘Coach’ Dange – or Manisha Didi – has only one mission in mind: helping Limaye, Shruti Menon, Ayushi Gupta, and the rest of the young squad live up to their top billing and capture the Youth Championships on home soil. “We have a good team, and because we’re playing at home, we’re the favourites. Once the crowds get bigger, there will be more pressure on the girls to perform – I have to make sure that they blank out the outside noise and just focus on their game.”

And if anyone can help them deal with the pressure it’s their experienced coach – after all, she has been there, done that, and is now back to bloom again.

28th Youth Basketball Nationals tip off in Nagpur; Hosts Maharashtra start positively

Look no further if you want to spot the next basketball superstar of India: On Thursday, May 26th, the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra, popularly known as the ‘Orange City’, welcomed hundreds of under-16 boys and girls from two dozen states in India to take part in the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls, slated to take place from May 26th – June 2nd.

Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan got the games underway after inaugurating Nagpur’s brand new Indoor Stadium of the Divisional Sports Complex, but it was the hosts Maharashtra who got the hoop fans really fired-up with back to back wins for both the girls’ and the boys’ teams.

Chavan, who declared the new Indoor Stadium open on Thursday afternoon, welcomed the players and the spectators. “It feels great to be at this inauguration at the ‘second capital’ of Maharashtra, Nagpur,” Chavan said, “I’m glad to see the best young players here from all over the country of India.”

The first game following the opening was the highly touted Maharashtra Girls side, featuring superstar Shireen Limaye as captain, who is the youngest player to be called up for the Indian Senior National camp in New Delhi. Maharashtra didn’t disappoint, even though they faced a motivated Punjab squad, and raced away to a double digit lead in the first quarter. Maharashtra really perked up their defense in the second half, allowing only four points in the last 20 minutes of play, en route to a convincing 65-31 victory. Shruti Menon had a confident outing with 19 points for Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Boys started off their campaign with a tenaciously fought win over a gritty Karnataka side. Although Maharashtra led most of their way, Karnataka remained right on their tails, with big performances by Jeethender (24) and Melever (16). The second half was especially tightly contested but Maharashtra maintained their lead to notch a 63-50 win. Rohan Jagtap was the high scorer for the hosts with 17 points.

Meanwhile, Kerala Girls, the winners of last year’s tournament in Trichy, didn’t skip a beat as they started off with a dominating performance against Delhi. Kerala used hard-nosed defense and a balanced scoring threat to get an early lead over the team from the capital, and they carried their momentum throughout the game. It was an easy win for Kerala in the end, with the final score 54-13.

Important Scores

Boys

Group A: Maharashtra (Rohan Jagtap 17, Salim Malik 14) bt Karnataka (Jeethender 24, Melever 16), 63-50 (16-13,20-11,15-14,12-12).

Group C: Uttar Pradesh (Rahul Yadav 22, Ankit Malik 11, Abhishek Rai 10) bt Himachal Pradesh 77-40 (13-8, 16-10, 15-14, 33-8)

Girls

Group A: Maharashtra (Shruti Menon19, Shireen Limaye 15, Aditi Kamble 12) bt Punjab (Nirmal Kaur 13) 65-31 (22-11,18-16,16-2,9-2)

Group B: Chattisgarh (Sangeeta 21, Anjana Daisy 14, Poonam Chaturvedi 14) bt Uttarakhand, 90-19 (28-10, 28-2, 18-6, 16-1)

Group A: Kerala (Poojamal 14) bt Delhi 54-13 (21-4,6-1,15-5,12-3)

Group B: Haryana (Monika Vias 20, Bhakti Singh 15) bt Uttar Pradesh (Garima Singh 12,Shruti 16) 52-43 (11-14,8-6,16-17,17-6).

Nagpur welcomes 24 boys’ and 23 girls’ teams for Basketball’s Youth Nationals

The future of basketball in India will assemble together to compete for the ultimate prize – the Youth Nationals Championship. The 28th National Basketball Championship for Youth (U16) Boys and Girls will be organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) at Nagpur (Maharashtra) from May 26, 2011 – June 2, 2011. The Indoor Stadium in Mankapur in Nagpur will be hosting this championship.

Only players born on or after 1st January 1995 are eligible to participate.
24 boys teams and 23 girls teams from across the country have confirmed their entry into this tournament. The participating squads are:

Boys: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

Girls: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

“The Youth Nationals will be a great exhibition of the young and upcoming players in the country,” said Mr. Harish Sharma, the CEO of the BFI, said, “These youngsters will become the future superstars of Indian basketball.”

The 27th Youth Nationals, held in Trichy (Tamil Nadu) from June 1-8, 2010, were won by Punjab (Boys) and Kerala (Girls).

2011 Ramu Memorial Tournament starts in style; Holders IOB eke out close victory

Mumbai’s most-storied and oldest hoops competition, the All India Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament (RMBT) at the Indian Gymkhana in Matunga, got off to an intriguing start on Sunday, April 10th as the holders IOB (Chennai) held on for an intense, close victory over the underdog Cochin Customs side. The hosts, Maharashtra, saw their Women’s team dominate South Western Railway for a comfortable 16 point victory.

The RMBT, which is now in its 27th edition, is being sponsored by United Phosphorus Limited (UPL). The tournament has a lot of history in the city of Mumbai, as it started off in the mid-1960s as a local, inner-city competition, and in the late 70s became the All India tournament that it is today. For a period of 13 years between 1993-2005, the tournament was discontinued, but it has gained momentum again since 2006 and has once again become an essential part of Mumbai’s hoops culture.

One of the men’s teams that has always been successful at Ramu have been the Indian Overseas Bank – Chennai (IOB), who have won it three times in the last five years, including last year’s edition. Featuring the likes of Hareesh Koroth, Abhilekh Paul, Mihir Pandey, and the legendary S. Robinson, this team rolled in with high expectations but had a surprisingly slow start against Kerala’s Cochin Customs side. In a tight game throughout where neither team could take a huge lead, IOB survived to win 64-63. Paul scored 23 for the winning side while Pandey added 20 to go with 10 rebounds. For Cochin, Eudrick Perreira (17) and S. Monish (16) were the high scorers.

The first game of the tournament was a rousing victory by home side, Maharashtra Women, against South Western Railway from Karnataka. Smruthi was at her unstoppable best for Maharashtra, scoring 31 points as her team got off to a strong start. They held on to a comfortable 13 point lead at the half and maintained a steady tempo for the rest of the game to win 72-56. Manisha Dange added 17 for Maharasthra, while Savitha had 20 for South Western Railway.

The last game of the night was an encounter pitting several Indian superstars against each other – Western Railway Men came out to the court to battle Punjab. Western Railway wanted to stamp their dominance early, as they held on to a 10 point lead after a defensively strong first quarter and kept the lead uptil halftime. Punjab made a comeback in the third, but in the end, their efforts weren't strong enough from stopping Western Raiwlay from racing away to a 71-65 victory. Gagan Deep Singh was the star of the show for the winning side, scoring 18 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Jagdeep Singh, who was named 'Best Player' at the previous night's All Star Game, kept up his good form with 28 points and 8 rebounds for Punjab, but it wasn't enough to secure a victory.

Vinod Muthukumar, the tournament director, was encouraged by the start to the competition and was looking forward to more interest from the public over the next week. “This year of the RMBT will be a little different and we are hoping to add more excitement and fan interaction,” said Muthukumar, “The Men’s competition, for instance, will see the eight participating sides in two groups, and the best two teams from each group will then play in another round-robin pool. This way, the crowd will get to see more competitive games.”

The organisers of the tournament are also putting in an extra effort this year to reach out to the fans. The tournament will be shown live throughout on local Mumbai channel YOUSCOD 18. The Semi-Finals on 16th April and Finals on 17th April 2011 will be telecast live on Doordarshan and the Finals will be broadcast live on DD along with live running commentary on All India Radio's FM Gold.

Muthukumar added, “We are also using our website – ramumemorial.com – as well as our Facebook page, as essential tools to share photos, results, and news.”

This is also the first year that the US-based side Shooting for Success (SFS) will be taking part in the RMBT. SFS have been a crowd favourite at Mumbai because of their appearances at the Savio Cup. They are considered to be one of the favourites to lift the crown, along with IOB and ONGC.

Basketball stars align for shooting and dunk show in Mumbai

It was a curious scene – outside the Mastan YMCA court, was the poor Nagpada area, that of thin lanes, population outbursts, and some of the best kebabs known to man. Enter the court and it was a slightly different world, where the finest Men & Women basketball stars from all across the country gathered together for a novel Indian All Star event. They wore fancy new jerseys, participated in glittering photo shoots, and signed autographs.

But this was a scene where these two world’s aligned beautifully. The Nagpada area has long been known for being a major hub of basketball activity in India, and it has overseen some of the greatest players, rivalries, and basketball tournaments that have been held in the country over the past several decades. That frenzied energy and fandom for the game is the perfect platform for the two-day All Star event.

On Friday night, the best shooters in the Men’s and Women’s categories took part in a three-point shooting competition. This was followed by the fan-favourite, Slam Dunk contest, which saw more than one major surprise. And the high-point of this high-energy night came when Punjabi’s point guard Talwinderjit Singh “TJ” Sahi brought out a Mumbai Kali-Peeli (Black & Yellow) taxi to the basketball court, had it parked below the basket, caught a pass from a friend sitting atop the taxi’s carrier, and proceeded to slam it home.

But the night was about so much more than that – all of the stars of the two teams, which included Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (India Men’s captain), local legend Riyazuddin, Jagdeep Singh, Trideep Rai, Yadwinder Singh, Indian Women’s captain Prashanti Singh, Anitha Paul Durai, Anju Lakra, and many others were presented with their new all star jerseys. They proudly took part in several photo-shoots and were fawned over by the local basketball aspirants. Unlike most of India, the kids in Nagpada don’t want to grow up and bat like Sachin or bowl like Zaheer; they have dreams of dribbling like Riyaz and shooting like Manisha.

“Mumbai is the best place to promote, not only basketball, but to promote anything at all,” said Prashanti Singh, “In India, basketball is biggest in this city.”

And the biggest platform in India was presented with India’s biggest performers. A large crowd, comprising of young children, older basketball players, and hundreds of locals from the nearby areas swelled up the court, finding their seats on the ground and on the stands around the court. The night began with the Women’s three-point shooting competition, a large field where 13 of the All-Stars participated.

Four of the shooters tied with seven three-pointers made in one minute each after the first round – Maharashtra’s own Manisha Dange, and three sharpshooters from Chhattisgarh – Seema Singh, Anju Lakra, and Akansha Singh. When the second round got on for the women, it was Akansha who stood last, making a last second three-pointer to give herself the edge and the win. Dange finished second and Lakra came in third.

The men’s competition followed, and the field of participants was only half of the women. It made for a stiffer battle, and in the end Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, who made eight threes under a minute, was crowned Men’s three-point champion. TJ Sahi finished second.

Vishesh came out again to take part in the Slam Dunk competition, and he was joined by Yadwinder Singh, Jagdeep Singh, and TJ Sahi. The rules of the competition were simple – three judges give each player their score out of 10 for each dunk, and there are three rounds. All four of the dunkers wowed the crowd with their athletic ability. And the crowds played happy volunteers, too – it didn’t take more than a slight nudge from Vishesh before several young kids took a seat below the basket for the dunker to jump over them and slam the ball in.

Sahi, who brought on Mumbai’s famous icon – the Kali-Peeli – had many of the kids sit inside the car to watch him jump and dunk over them. The meter stayed up, and so did Sahi, who brought the house down with his effort. It was unfortunately not enough as Vishesh was able to spring out his own surprise - dunking over a motorcycle - and in the end and score just enough. In the end, the competition ended in a tie for both of India’s top dunkers.

With the playful festivities of the first day over, the All Star Weekend moves into its main event for Saturday night, when both the women’s and the men’s All Star Games will be played at the Mastan court. The brand new kit has been ironed, the players have practiced, and the crowd is going to start jostling for their seats: are you ready?

All Star Friday night results

Three point shooting competition (Women): 1. Akansha Singh 2. Manisha Dange 3. Anju Lakra

Three point shooting competition (Men): 1. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 2. Talwinderjit Singh Sahi

Slam Dunk contest (Men): Talwinderjit Singh Sahi & Vishesh Bhriguvanshi

27th All India Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament to tip off in Mumbai

One of India’s most prestigious basketball championships, the All India Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament (RMBT), will return in its 27th edition to the Indian Gymkhana in Matunga (Mumbai) from April 10-17th. The tournament will feature some of the best state and club teams and top Indian players from around the country in both the Men’s and the Women’s division.

An added attraction to the team list this year is the American-based club squad, Shooting for Success, who have been attending past basketball tournaments like the Savio Cup in Mumbai for several years now.

Eight men’s teams and four women’s teams will be taking part in RMBT 2011. Once again, the competition will feature a host of international / India stars including Sambhaji Kadam (Services), S. Robinson (IOB-Chennai), Trideep Rai (ONGC), Gagandeep Singh and Amit Parashar (Western Railway), and women’s superstar Geethu Anna Jose (Southern Railway) who has recently received a call-up for a tryout with two WNBA teams.

Participating teams are:

Men:

Western Railway

IOB (Tamil Nadu)

Services

ONGC (Uttarakhand)

Shooting for Success (USA)

Punjab

Maharashtra

Cochin Customs

Women:

Southern Railway

Maharashtra

South West Central Railway

Chhattisgarh

In the Mens’ section comprising of Eight Teams will be made into Two Groups each, top two teams from each group will play Semi-final Super League, and, again, the top two teams, in the Semi-Final Super League will play the finals. Group of 4 teams will play League & top 2 teams will qualify for Semi-Finals. & In the Women’s section it will be Round Robin Basis.

The men's winners will receive the glittering Ramu Memorial Trophy and a purse of Rs. 1 Lakh. The winning women's team will receive Rs. 50 Thousand and the Kapila Khandvala Shield.

In addition, there will be 'Player of the Tournament' awards in the Men's and Women's categories.

Like previous years, the tournament will be played on international standard Teraflex courts and will be held under floodlights in a specially erected stadium. This is being done to reduce injury to the players as well as enhance performances through uninhibited high-profile basketball. As in the past, entry is free for spectators and this is being done especially to promote basketball among students and youth.

The Semi-Finals on 16th April and Finals on 17th April 2011 will be telecast live on Doordarshan and, the Finals will be broadcast live on All India Radio's FM Gold, thru’ a live running commentary.

To add to the excitement, 'Predict the Winners', Slam Dunk and Three-Pointer contests for spectators will be held during the competition, where exciting vouchers and gifts will be distributed.

Ramu Memorial Basketball tournament had virtually become a household name, with people from all walks of life and all ages thronging the venue to witness and cheer top quality basketball being dished out by players of the likes of Haridutt, Mathew Satyababu, Hanuman Singh, Abbas Montassir, Ajmer Singh, Sajjan Singh, Khusiram, Ramkumar, the towering giant Sunil Kumar Panda, Shyamlal, Balkar Singh, C.N.Sharma, Vijayraghavan and host of others.

Check out the tournament's official website - RamuMemorial.com for more details, photographs, live scores, and much more!

Hoops DNA: Shireen Limaye follows her mother's footsteps to basketball stardom

Nature or Nurture? It has been an age-old argument: are an individual’s personality and skills developed by their DNA, or are they developed by the way in which the individual is raised? Or to put it simply: Are we born the way we are, or do we become who we are because of the environment around us?

It’s a complicated debate with possibly no absolute answer: every individual seems to be influenced by a little bit of both.

Shireen Limaye, Maharashtra’s budding hoops star, is probably not going to be any help in solving the debate either. See, Shireen is lucky to have the best of both worlds: She’s got hoops in her DNA, as her mother, Suvarna Limaye, is a former player National level basketball player. But Shireen has also been nurtured to become the best player she can be, playing basketball under her mother’s coaching from when she was just five years old.

The fruits of her nature and nurture are now developing into an exciting final product. If you read this before Sunday, Shireen would still be 15-years-old. She turns 16 on February 13th, and at her young age, she has already charted great peaks. She is currently part of Maharashtra’s Federation Cup squad, as she is one of the youngest, if not the youngest participants at this ongoing championship in Raipur (Chhattisgar). She got her first senior call-up for Maharashtra at the Sr. Nationals in Delhi last month, and a confident showing proved that she could hang tough even with women twice her age.

“Of course, the first time I took the court as a Senior player, I felt a lot of pressure going against the best,” Shireen admits, “But at the same time I felt very proud to be there.”

Shireen’s mother, Suvarna, says that Shireen has grown up around the game. Suvarna, who is a coach in Pune, says that she used to carry Shireen on the court since she was just six months old! Shireen began training under her mother, and by age nine, she became the youngest to represent the Pune district in the U13 tournament.

“In a way, it was really easy to work with Shireen,” says Suvarna, her mother and her coach, “She has basketball in her genes! But also because she is incredibly passionate about learning the game.”

Shireen has much more than her mother’s basketball skills in her genes: her father, Vijay Limaye, has been a National-Level swimmer; her elder brother, Animish Limaye, has represented India’s U17 basketball side.

With this sporting background, Shireen had no trouble thriving in an environment where she was encouraged to play the sport she loved. Her high-point came when she represented the Indian Youth Team at the Youth Asian Basketball Championships, which were held in Pune in August 2009.

But she had a curious change of course since: Shireen got an interesting offer to change sports for a little while and represent India in the Netball tournament held at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She practiced for a year with the new Netball team, before getting a chance to represent the country in Delhi, but this time, in a different sport.

“It was strange for me to switch to Netball at first, and the first two weeks it took some time to adjust but after that I got a grip of it,” said Shireen, “When we finally got to Delhi, it was great! We had a cheering Indian crowd behind us to make a good atmosphere.”

It took another brave, sudden transition in sports for Shireen again: The Commonwealth Games, where she represented India in Netball, lasted from October 3-14, 2010. 10 days later, Shireen joined the Maharashtra Junior Basketball Team that played at the Junior National Championships in Vashi. Along with other young stars in the team, Shireen helped Maharashtra ride the home support to reach the final of the tournament before they lost to Kerala.

“The transition between sports, I admit, was pathetic!” Shireen exclaimed, “But I had to manage.”

She also vehemently denies any further calling towards Netball. “I will always pick basketball! I don’t think Netball will have a future for me!”

As long as she can keep honing her skills, Shireen is sure to have an improving future in the game. She plays a versatile game, switching between guard and forward positions with ease. At 5”10, she is taller than most girls she competes with at her position, and with good ball-handling skills, she is looking to perfect her point-guard game which will allow her to overpower smaller opponents. She has also learnt from watching her mother play: “My mother had really good pivot moves in the post, something that she worked on with me and I have been able to pick up.”

With a lot of potential waiting ahead, Shireen is ambitious about her future.“After I finish my 10th Boards, I want to go to America to study,” she says, “In five years, I wish to see myself in the WNBA.”

Blessed with the perfect blend of nature and nurture, Shireen has little reason to doubt her dreams!

Chhattisgarh welcomes India's best teams to the Federation Cup

On the opening ceremony of the 25th IMG-Reliance Federation Cup National Basketball Championship for Men and Women at the Budhatalab Indoor Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on February 10th, chief guest and Chhattigarh’s Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh said that he hoped to see Chhattisgarh become India’s top sporting state. And with an energetic first win against Tamil Nadu, the Chhattisgarh’s Women’s team stamped a perfect response to Singh’s wishes.

The Chhattisgarh home crowd roared with joy from the very first basket, and the signature quickfire play of the girls on the court was no match for Tamil Nadu. Chhattisgarh built a 28-6 lead in the first quarter, and continued to play strong defense to deny TN any chance of bringing the game any closer.

Chhattisgarh continued to play a balanced inside-outside game, as they excelled both in fast break scoring, sharp inside passes, and with accurate outside shooting, as several different players contributed to their score. They led 45-20 at halftime en-route to a resounding 82-52 victory. Chhattigarh’s star M. Pushpa finished with a game-high 30 points on some sharp-shooting from beyond the three-point arc. V. Amutha scored 16 in a losing effort for TN.

The Federation Cup, which features the best eight teams in the men’s and women’s divisions from the previous year’s National Basketball Championship in Ludhiana, was inaugurated at the brand new Budhatalab Stadium in Raipur earlier in the evening by Dr. Raman Singh. “We’re lucky to witness the first ever games of this tournament at this new stadium,” Singh said, “We will hope to see a great environment for basketball here!”

“The Chhattisgarh government will try to do everything possible to help develop sports in this state,” Singh added, “In 11 years since its inception, Chhattisgarh has become top in the country in several sectors; I hope that in the future we can be in number one in sports, too.”

Harish Sharma, the Secretary-General of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) also acknowledged the growing status of Chhattisgarh as a basketball superpower. “The Chhattisgarh Pradesh Basketball Association (CGPBA) has become a strong association over the years,” said Sharma, “Their players are now making the state proud in almost all levels of the game.”

Sharma added: “It is great to see this wonderful indoor stadium to host this championship. The public of Chhattisgarh should acknowledge all that its chief minister Dr. Raman Singh has done to help encourage sports in the state.”

In other Women’s action, the team from Delhi, who have finished runners-up in the last two National Championships, faced a plucky Maharashtra side on the first day of the Cup. Delhi took a confident first half lead of 33-24 behind some brilliant play by Indian National Team captain Prashanti Singh (24) and Raspreet Sidhu (23). But Maharashtra made an inspired run in the third quarter to even the score and then take the lead 42-40.

Shaken but not shattered, Delhi regained its composure and began to execute better offensively again. They went on a devastating 27-6 run between the end of the third and halfway through the fourth quarters. In the end, it was a comfortable 16 point victory for Delhi, 74-58.

Here is the full list of participating teams and their groups:

Men

Group A: Western Railway, Indian Army, Hyderabad District, KSEB.
Group B: IOB (Chennai), ONGC, Bhilai Steel Plant, Vijaya Bank (Bangalore).

Women

Group A: Southern Railway, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh.
Group B: Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra.

To stay updated with everything at the Federation Cup, Click Here for Full Schedule and Click Here for Results.

6th UPL All India Savio Cup to tip off in Mumbai

Mumbai’s basketball lovers are in for a feast of high quality basketball, as India's leading male and female hoopsters - along with a team from the United States of America 'Shooting for Success' - will be vying for top honours in the 6th Edition of the UPL All India Savio Cup-Don Bosco Basketball Tournament, held from 23rd January 2011 to 30th January 2011. The tournament will be held at Don Bosco High School (Matunga) and will be sponsored by United Phosphorous Ltd and Co-sponsored by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

The tournament, which has become one of the leading basketball competitions in the country, will feature six teams in the Men’s and four teams in the Women’s divisions.

Father Bosco D’Mello, Organizing Secretary of the tournament said, “The Savio Cup is a brilliant effort of teamwork. Diehard fans of the sport of basketball (both young and not so young) coming together to give a boost to the game of basketball, both to popularize it and take it to great heights by bringing together the best players both of Indian origin and overseas. You have got to be there to live the experience."

Participating Teams

Men: Services, IOB Chennai, Indian Railways, Punjab, Maharashtra, Shooting for Success (San Antonio, Texas, USA).

Women: Southern Railway, South East Central Railway, Karnataka, Maharashtra.

Some of the star players featuring in the tournament will include Shambaji Kadam, Dilip Kumar, Vishesh Bruguvanshi, Talwinder Singh, Mihir Pandey, Jagdeep, Yadwinder Singh, Harish, Geetu Anna Jose, Anita Pauldurai, Bharati Netam, Anju Lakra, Shirin Limaye, Sneha Rajguru, Amrita Baskute, Seema Singh, and others.

A highlight of this year’s tournament is the special felicitation function planned for the Administrators, Referees, Players and Journalists of yesteryear who had made significant contributions to the game of Basketball.

The tournament's organisers are doing a vigorous job in promoting the event. Savio Cup updates can be found on its Facebook page, on Twitter, and the organisers will also be sending SMS updates to fans who wish to submit their number for information.

The men and women will play a round robin league, with the top two teams going on to play the final. The men’s winners stand to gain Rs. 1 lakh, while the runners-up teams will take home Rs. 50,000. The women’s winners will take home Rs. 50,000 with the runner-up teams standing to gain Rs. 25,000. There will be prizes for every match as well as for individual brilliance.

Also planned are a ‘dunking competition’ and a ‘three-point shooting competition’.

The matches will be played on the Terra Flex surface with the use of Electronic Scoreboards and 24-second devices, in specially erected stadium to seat approx. 2000 spectators.

Three matches are expected to be played every day and they will be officiated by International referees, from different states, including three from Maharashtra.

Punjab Boys and Kerala Girls lift Junior Basketball Championship title at Vashi

In what was a fitting end to an exciting championship, the Punjab Boys team stepped up their game when it counted most to edge out Tamil Nadu 75-70 and win the boys’ title at the 61st IMG-Reliance National Basketball Championship for Junior Boys and Girls at the Fr. Agnel School in Vashi (Navi Mumbai). In the girls’ final, Kerala played efficient defense to smother hosts Maharashtra and win the final game, 71-60.

The boys’ game was a see-saw, back and forth affair, as the two strongest teams in the tournament, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, faced each other. It was a match-up between Punjab’s height and Tamil Nadu’s speed. Tamil Nadu had a hard time dealing with Punjab’s control of the boards, but led by some brilliant play by GB Carmel Joseph, they kept close until the end. Tamil Nadu looked to have sealed the game in the last few minutes before Punjab’s captain Amjyot Singh (10) and Bikramjot Singh (22) made clutch baskets to give their team the victory.

“It feels really good to win this trophy, especially since this was such a difficult tournament,” said Amjyot Singh, Punjab’s captain. “The game was going down to the wire, but our coach reassured us and made sure we played with a cool mind. I’m very happy we were able to win: this is a good, balanced team, that boasted good shooters, good passers, and of course, great height.”

Kerala girls silenced the home support after they built an early double digit lead over the Maharashtra squad. Playing disciplined man-to-man defense, Kerala made it extremely difficult for Maharashtra to score and were soon sitting on a 24 point advantage early in the 3rd quarter. Maharashtra slowly began to catch up, even cutting the lead to single digits in the last few minutes. But Kerala managed to hold on, and as time expired, they emerged 71-60 winners.

Kerala were once again led by the confident young star Jeena PS (26). “I am happy to win this trophy and make Kerala proud,” said Jeena, “We were able to play good defense, and on offense, my team-mates did a good job in getting the ball to me in the post. There was a bit of pressure from the home support as Maharashtra made a comeback in the fourth quarter, but we were able to hang on.

Final Scores
Girls: Kerala 71 (Jeena PS 26, Neenu Mol PS 15) bt. Maharashtra 60 (Amruta Vashwant 15).
Boys: Punjab 75 (Bikramjot Singh 22, Kamaldeep Singh 18) bt. Tamil Nadu 70 (GB Carmel Joseph 27, KS Prasanna 17, G Sivabalan 13)


Final Standings:

Girls:
1. Kerala
2. Maharashtra
3. Tamil Nadu
4. Chhattisgarh
5. Karnataka
6. Delhi
7. Uttar Pradesh
8. Punjab
9. Rajasthan
10. Orissa

Boys:
1. Punjab
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Madhya Pradesh
4. Karnataka
5. Kerala
6. Chhattisgarh
7. Maharashtra
8. Rajasthan
9. Uttar Pradesh
10. Andhra Pradesh

Punjab, Kerela win National Youth Championships

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The future Indian basketball stars showed their talents when the 27th National Youth Championships (for Boys and Girls) were held at Tiruchirappalli (or Tiruchi for the lazy) in Tamil Nadu from June 1-8th. The teams from Punjab and Kerela won the competition in the boys' and girls' divisions respectively.

In the Girls' final on the 8th, the youngsters from Kerela destroyed the Uttar Pradesh team by 35 points, 84-49, to win the title. Star players Jeena (29 points) and Anjana (24 points) led the way for Kerela, while playing some stifling defense on UP starlet Dhriti Arora. UP were led by 24 points from Preeti Kumari.

In the boys final, a balanced Punjab side, led by 13 points from Harmandeep played some good defense against the surprising finalists from Chhatisgarh. Punjab beat Chhatisgarh 64-42 - Chhattisgarh's leading scorer in the final was Murali with 15 points.

Chhattisgarh had entered this stage of the tournament by beating the hosts Tamil Nadu in a close semi-final, 69-67. Punjab had earlier defeated Madhya Pradesh in their semi. In the girls' semi-finals, Kerela had defeated Maharahstra and hosts Tamil Nadu were beaten by Uttar Pradesh.

The competition is a showcase of the finest Indian youth who are of under-16 level as of January 2010.

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BFI to launch the Mastan Basketball League in Mumbai

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More More More BASKETBALL! Nearly a week ago, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) announced the Mastan Basketball Professional League for Men & Women to be held at Mastan Y.M.C.A in Mumbai from 5th to 15th May, 2010.

The Mastan league is yet another positive step taken by the BFI to introduce what I call a "league-like" experience to some of the countries top players. Following the news of the Mahindra-NBA recreational league which will target amateur/casual basketball players, the Mastan league will offer a similar structure to the top-level basketball players in the country.
Ibrahim Lakdawala, an enterprising former national-level player has been behind the planning of this first of its kind professional basketball league in a hope to change the face of the game in the city.

From BFI News:

Top 48 players from all over India and 32 players from Maharashtra State will be selected to play in the Men section forming 8 Teams from these 80 players.
While top 25 players from all over India and 15 players from the state of Maharashtra will be selected to play in the women section forming 4 teams from these 40 players.
CASH AWARDS TO EACH PLAYER will be provided during each match of the League as per details mentioned below: -
Winner – Rs. 3,000/- (per player)
Runner-up – Rs. 2,000/- (per player)
Semi Final Matches: Winner: 4,000/- (per player)
Runner-up Rs. 3,000/- (per player)
Final’s Winner: 5,000/- (per player)
Runner-up: 4,000/- (per player)
Each match will have a best player award.

As mentioned above, the league will feature nearly 30 percent players from the state of Maharashtra and the remaining will comprise of the best from the rest of India. I spoke to BFI secretary Harish Sharma about the league today, and he said the purpose of this league will be to introduce a new concept and new teams to the players.
"We want to mix the teams up, like it would be if we had a national league system," said Harish, "They will be given cash rewards for their appearances and performances. We will hold tryouts to choose the final teams and also recruit coaches for this. It will be one more step towards a professional league in India."
Many of the country's best players have been invited for this league, and beyond them, other good basketball players will also be given a chance. Check out the BFI website news for contact details if you wish to participate.
The players will have to report to the venue on the 5th of May and the teams will be formed on the 6th and 7th. The matches will kick off on the 8th and end on the 15th of May.

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