65th Senior National Basketball Championship Day 1- Karnataka men surprise Kerala, Defending champions Chhattisgarh women off to winning start

[Gopalakrishnan R & Vishnu Ravi Shankar] Bhilwara, Rajasthan: Karnataka men surprised Kerala in their opening encounter of the 65^th Senior National Basketball Championship 2014. The athletic Karnataka side led by centre Arvind proved too quick for the ageing Kerala squad. Arvind’s 31 points included multiple in game dunks that energised his side.

Defending women’s champions Chhattisgarh kept Maharashtra at bay to start its title defence on a high. Unfortunately, men’s defending champions Tamil Nadu fell to a full strength Uttarakhand side that had international centre Amrit Pal Singh showcase a mammoth performance on both ends of the floor with his tireless rebounding and excellent mid range shooting touch.  In other Level 1 matches, the Southern women from Kerala and Tamil Nadu registered easy wins over Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively, and Indian Railways men beat Chhattisgarh in a tight 76-66 match.

Among the lower level teams, Assam women beat Odisha in a cliff-hanger, winning 54-53, and their male counterparts too handed Odisha another defeat winning 78-62. Surprising lower level teams Madhya Pradesh women and Maharashtra men too started their 2014 campaign with assured wins over Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh respectively.

Earlier this morning, Level 1 games tipped off on Day one of the Championship, with no real surprises in the matches held on the indoor wooden court (Court 1). The Kerala and Tamil Nadu women picked up comfortable wins against opponents Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively. In the men’s matches thus far on Court 1, the Indian Railways withstood a tough fight from the Chhattisgarh team to register a 10-point victory 76-66. M. Mishra top scored for the Railways with a game-high 25 points.

Results from 29-12-2014

Level 1

Women

1)      Kerala (Surya PR 19, Jeena PS 17, Neenu Mol 9) bt Andhra Pradesh (A Surya 23, E Jyothi 10) 78-39 [27-6, 18-9, 11-14, 22-10]

2)      Tamil Nadu (Sunita 20, Ramya 15) bt Uttar Pradesh (R Gour 13) 72-36 [17-4, 16-12, 23-16, 16-4]

3)      Chhattisgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 28, Sharanjeet 26) bt Maharashtra (Sruthi Menon 30, Manisha Dange 22) 94-74[25-21, 22-11, 21-25, 26-17]

Men

1)    Indian Railways (M Mishra 25, H Singh 16, H Singh 12) bt Chhattisgarh (AP Singh 20, Kiranpal S 18, KS Kumar 15)76-66 [25-15, 17-20, 16-17, 18-14]

2)    Karnataka (Arvind A 31, Dhiraj Shetty 12) bt Kerala (Subhash 29, Manoj R 25, Basil Philip 9) 86-77 [24-26, 23-21, 21-18, 28-12]

3)    Uttarakhand (Amritpal Singh 39, Trideep Rai 12) bt Tamil Nadu (Amjyot Singh 17, Pratham Singh 9) 85-69 [25-12, 15-11, 21-12, 24-34]

Level 2

Women

1)      Assam (Anjusidhartan 26) bt Odisha (Roli 14, Namrata 13) 54-53 [9-13, 14-10, 15-10, 16-20]

2)      Himachal Pradesh (Manorama 21, Naina 19, Balvinder Kaur 13) bt Bihar (Priyanka 14, Shravanti 13) 60-37 [9-13, 12-11, 19-11, 20-2]

3)      Madhya Pradesh (Sakshi Pandey 12, Rimpy Hooda 10, Monica Gurjar 10) bt Chandigarh (Gulwalia 13) 54-20 [17-8, 17-3, 11-9, 9-0]

Men

1)      Chandigarh (Maninder Singh 17, Navjot Singh Sandhu 13, Atul Singh 13) bt Bihar (Yogesh Kumar 15) 69-47 [11-10, 19-17, 19-10, 20-10]

2)      Uttar Pradesh (Akash Bhasin 18, Rakesh Kumar 12, Ashutosh Kumar 7) bt Himachal Pradesh (Deepak 14, V Chauhan 9)71-48 [16-4, 14-18, 21-11, 20-15]

3)      Assam (Pradeep Kumar 27, Narendra Kumar 18, Brijmohan Sharma 13) bt Odisha 78-62 [16-21, 22-18, 19-8, 21-15]

4)      Maharashtra (Raj Kalbhor 27, Amit Gahlot 20) bt Madhya Pradesh (Harendra Singh 23, Ankit Panigrahi 21) 75-66[22-20, 15-15, 21-19, 17-12]

About the 65^th Senior National Basketball Championship 2014

The 65th Senior National Basketball Championship 2014 is being held in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. The Championship is being organised by the Bhilwara District Basketball Association in collaboration with the Rajasthan State Basketball Association under the aegis of Basketball Federation of India and IMG-Reliance. 27 men’s teams and 24 women’s teams are participating in this event that will be played in a league-cum-knockout format. For this year’s edition, Tamil Nadu men and Chhattisgarh women are the defending champions

The teams have been divided into two levels: the upper Level 1 and lower level 2. Level 1 teams have further been split into two groups (A and B) while Level 2 teams have been split into four groups. The top four teams from each Level 1 group and the top team from each of the four Level 2 groups will qualify for the knockout stages. A separate knockout tournament (called “Losers Knockouts”) will also be held for the 2nd and 3rd placed teams from each of the four lower level groups that will be knocked out of the main tournament.

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 honor of Arjuna Award. More information at www.indiabasketball.org

About IMG Reliance

IMG Reliance Pvt Ltd., is an equal joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest and most recognized private sector company, and IMG Worldwide (IMG), the world’s leading sports marketing and management company. The joint venture company will develop market and manage sports and entertainment in India. Its current assets include India’s premier fashion event, Lakmé Fashion Week and South Asia’s only ATP World Tour event, the Aircel Chennai Open. IMG Reliance has entered agreements with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to create a new professional basketball league and manage all aspects of the commercial rights to the game in India and the All India Football Federation (AIFF), to improve, popularize and promote the game of football throughout India, from the grassroots to the professional level. IMG Reliance has also created a scholarship program to identify and train talented young Indians from sports including – basketball, soccer and tennis at IMG’s world-class sports training facilities at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida.

For media queries please contact:

Ekalavyas

Vishnu Ravi Shankar (+91 8826072221)

Gopalakrishnan R (+91 8197235684, 9910496671)