The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Punjab ends Tamil Nadu's reign

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Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

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Sport - Basketball

Punjab ends Tamil Nadu's reign

By Kamesh Srinivasan

LUDHIANA, JAN. 1. Defending champion Tamil Nadu was defeated by host Punjab in the semifinals of the Dhanoa 55th National basketball championship at the Guru Nanak Sports Complex here on Saturday.

Cheered by a near capacity crowd, Punjab asserted its all-round strength with a thumping 87-67 victory over the champion of the last five editions, after having taken a 51-40 lead at half-time.

While no praise can be exaggerated for Talwinderjit Singh's consistent brilliance, scoring 32 points in the match, it had to be conceded that Tamil Nadu came up with a poor performance at a crucial stage of the match.

Trailing 52-61, Tamil Nadu missed five free-throws on the trot, and that proved costly in the eventual analysis. With the last quarter still to be played, the match could have been a lot more intense had Tamil Nadu capitalised on those chances.

The fact that S. Robinson scored only four points in the first half, and that A.D. Sukavaneswaran was not able to carry on with his early good shooting proved decisive for Tamil Nadu.

Uttaranchal in final

In the other semifinal, Uttaranchal emphasised that it depended more on combined skill and team spirit rather than on individual brilliance, as it overcame the early exit of Desh Raj to record a 74-69 victory over Railways.

Desh Raj suffered a knee injury four minutes into the second half after having scored 22 points and had to be carried off the court. However, Uttaranchal's campaign did not limp, as S. Sridhar and Shabeen Ahamad handled the added responsibility with competence.

Nishant Kumar, Rohit Bhandari and Suresh Kumar Ranot played their part with efficiency to ensure that Uttaranchal stayed ahead throughout the contest.

It was a commendable effort from Trideep Rai as he bridged the gap to 67-68 thanks to a string of three-pointers with just three minutes left on the clock. Trideep's heroics as he slotted in six three-pointers and the fact that 17 of his 31 points came in the second half proved inadequate as Uttaranchal handled the climax like a champion, though Sridhar blotted his book by muffing a shot when he was under the basket unchallenged.

Rlys-Delhi final

In the women's section, Railways and Delhi set up a title clash for the third time in a row. Defending champion Railways was severe in dismissing Tamil Nadu by an 82-point margin, while Delhi was relatively better stretched by the talented bunch from Chhattisgarh.

Delhi had beaten Railways two years back in Hyderabad, and will seek to repeat the effort for its third title. On the other hand, the formidable Railways will be looking to collect its 18th National title.

The results (semifinals):

Men: Punjab 87 (Talwinderjit Singh 32, Parminder Singh 16, Jasjot Singh 15, Yadwinder Singh 13) beat Tamil Nadu 67 (R. Shiva Shankar 16, S. Robinson 15, A.D. Sukavaneswaran 14, John de Plato 12).

Uttaranchal 74 (Shabeer Ahamad 24, Desh Raj 22, S. Sridhar 13) beat Railways 69 (Trideep Rai 31, Ranjeet Singh 16, Mihir Pandey 12).

Women: Railways 113 (Seema Singh 21, Sofi Sam 17, Ranjini Peter 17, Anju Lakra 10, Geo Blessen 10) beat Tamil Nadu 31.

Delhi 84 (Divya Singh 38, Shiba Maggon 22, L.S. Savitha 11) beat Chhattisgarh 68 (Kawaljeet Kaur 20, Bharti Netam 17, Aakansha Singh 11, M. Pushpa 10).

Friday's result (men's quarterfinals): Railways 88 (Trideep Rai 23, Mahipal Singh 18, Ranjeet Singh 13, Mahender Singh Shekawat 13) beat Karnataka 63 (Basavaraj Murgoud 19).

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