The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Hyderabad, Kurnool are champions

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Monday, May 03, 2004

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Sport - Basketball

Hyderabad, Kurnool are champions

By Our Special Correspondent

RAJAHMUNDRY, MAY 2 . Effective rebound collection both in defence and offence enabled Hyderabad quell a fairly stiff challenge from East Godavari to clinch the boys' title of the Andhra Pradesh State junior basketball championships, which concluded at the AP Paper Mills township here on Sunday. On the distaff side, Kurnool subdued Hyderabad 52-26 for the crown.

Going heavily in Hyderabad's favour was the height advantage, with Varun Dev and Sandeep Yadav towering over their rivals.

Varun needed some urging from coach S.N. Singh to stick his hands up but the strapping schoolboy backed up Sandeep's prolific scoring admirably.

Both squads left their line-ups largely unchanged and Sandeep lived up to the faith reposed in him, finding the ring time and again and with remarkable accuracy.

For the host, K. Swamy was an asset, beating the tall Hyderabad defenders twice to net zero angle baskets. Venkatesh would sneak into the defending champion's restricted area to score under baskets.

When that didn't seem possible, he'd unleash the occasional three-pointer, of which he dealt three in the match. S. Kiran lent valuable support to Swamy and Venkatesh.

Kurnool's campaign against reigning champ Hyderabad was remarkable, as forwards Saritha and Sandhya beat the `wall' with increasing frequency. Sandhya in particular was impressive, seemingly able to find the mark from almost every angle.

Through steals and fast breaks, the Rayalseema side, egged on by coach Bhushan, kept the score ticking.

For Hyderabad, Sandhya seemed out of form while Bharani's exit with five fouls was a blow it could not recover from.

Outside shooting enabled East Godavari post a thrilling 67-45 win over Krishna in the boys semifinals, earlier today. It made little headway with drive-in baskets, as its tall forwards aimed their attempts from outside the semi-circle, which not only fetched points at a brisk pace, but kept up the pressure on Krishna as well.

Sandhya's prolific scoring (27 points), along with Bharani's substantial contribution (18) helped Hyderabad overcome Krishna 63-50. For the loser, Rachana (15) and Asha Jyothi (11) found the ring most often.

The results:

Boys: Final: Hyderabad 64 (Sandeep Yadav 32, Vishal Yadav 10, Varun Dev 12) bt East Godavari 46 (K. Swamy 13, Venkatesh 16, S. Kiran 11).

Semifinals: East Godavari 67 (Kiran 16, Venkatesh 17, Swamy 19) bt Krishna 45 (Lakshman Kumar 20); Hyderabad 62 (Raghuveer 14, Vishal Yadav 10, Sandeep 10) bt Visakhapatnam 34 (Sunil Kumar 11).

Third place: Krishna bt Visakhapatnam 49-16.

Quarterfinals: Krishna 48 (Lakshman Kumar 21, Irfan Khan 13) bt Srikakulam 17; Hyderabad 58 (Varun Dev 18, Raghuveer 10, Khan 13) bt Anantapur 31 (Satheesh 1, Peera 9); Visakhapatnam 65 (Sunil Kumar 26, A.T.R. Raju 19) bt West Godavari 56 (Kumar Varma 29, Krishna Reddy 8).

Girls: Final: Kurnool 52 (K. Sandhya 20, Saritha 11) bt Hyderabad 26 (Bharani 9).

Semifinals: Hyderabad 63 (Sandhya 27, Bharani 18) bt Krishna 50 (Rachana 15, Asha Jyothi 11); Kurnool 37 (Sandhya 12, Saritha 9) bt Anantapur 16 (Sujatha 9). Third place: Krishna bt Anantapur 29-11.

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