The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Punjab men top group

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 31, 2004

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Sport - Basketball

Punjab men top group

By Kamesh Srinivasan

LUDHIANA, DEC. 30. Punjab had little trouble in topping Group `A', as the powerful Uttaranchal literally presented the match on a platter, refusing to accept the challenge, in the Dhanoa 55th National basketball championship at the Guru Nanak Sports Complex here on Thursday.

It was indeed difficult for both the teams this morning to regroup themselves after the energy sapping encounters against Haryana and Tamil Nadu the previous night.

Yet, it was baffling when Uttaranchal rested S. Sridhar, Desh Raj and Shabbir Ahmed a mere two minutes into the match with the score reading 0-3, allowing a free run for Punjab.

Eventually, Punjab prevailed 73-52 after leading 49-26 at halftime. The team used the opportunity to put most of its players in action, though the key man Amit Parashar was allowed to take it easy.

It was understood to be a tactical attempt on the part of Uttaranchal to give itself a better chance to march ahead in the championship, as topping the group would have meant the team figuring in the same half as the champion of the last five editions, Tamil Nadu, and possibly meeting it in the semifinals.

Having won a thriller against Tamil Nadu, it was understandable that Uttaranchal, a potential champion, was not too keen to face another challenge so early.

Thus, what could have been an explosive contest, ended as an one-sided affair. With the local crowd behind it, Punjab could not even entertain any thoughts of trying to finish second behind Uttaranchal in the group.

It was another matter that Punjab did not have to try to avoid any team, having asserted itself by beating Tamil Nadu in a comprehensive fashion in the league.

Punjab will be challenged by Jharkhand in the quarterfinals. The latter controlled the pre-quarterfinals nicely in humbling Andhra Pradesh.

For Kerala, the runner-up of the last edition, it was a dilemma between facing Tamil Nadu or Uttarnachal in the quarterfinals, as it clashed with Services in its last league match in Group `B'. In the event, Kerala lost to Services, and would run into Uttaranchal in the knock-out, leaving the task of matching Tamil Nadu to Services.

In the women's section, Railways and Delhi topped their group.

In the quarterfinals, Railways will meet Himachal Pradesh, Delhi will face Punjab, Andhra Pradesh will clash with neighbour Tamil Nadu, while Kerala will lock horns with the spirited Chhattisgarh.

Doordarshan will telecast the championship `live' on the last three days.

The results: Men (pre-quarterfinals): Jharkhand 92 (Shiv Kumar 28, Ramasare Yadav 27, Binod Choudhury 17, Ullas Jose 13) bt Andhra Pradesh 67 (S. Nihal Yadav 27, G. Siva Prasad Reddy 11).

Super league: Group `A': Punjab 73 (Yadwinder Singh 13, Harminder Singh 11, Jagdeep Singh 10) bt Uttaranchal 52 (Murali Krishna 16, Suresh Kumar Ranot 10); Karnataka 94 (N. Basavaraj 36, M. Manoj 26, A.V. Srinivasa Gowda 12, B.S. Gautam 10) bt Haryana 51 (Parveen 15, Manoj 15).

Group `B': Railways 78 (Mahipal Singh 17, Trideep Rai 13, G. Ashwin 12) bt Andhra Pradesh 31 (V.V.R. Chari 12); Services 83 (Peter John 27, Subhash 18, Phool Singh 10)

Women (super league): Group `A': Railways 87 (Ranjini Peter 18, Sofi Sam 16, Anju Lakra 11, K. Manisha 10) bt Maharashtra 36 (Mohite Gujar 14); Chhattisgarh 87 (Aakansha Singh 17, Bharti Netam 16, Kawaljeet Kaur 15, M. Pushpa 14) bt Andhra Pradesh 42 (A.B. Binu 10).

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