The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : Kerala women regain title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 27, 2006

Sport

Sport - Basketball

Kerala women regain title

PROUD WINNERS: Kerala women survived a second-half scare from Sri Lanka to emerge champions. — Photo: Johney Thomas.

KOTTAYAM: After a suffering a big scare in the second half, Kerala defeated Sri Lanka 83-54 and won the women's title in the 46th South Zone senior basketball championships at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday evening. The host was winning the title after four years.

Later, Kerala defeated Karnataka 88-78 to win the men's title after a gap of 32 years.

Kerala, a mix of youth and experience and with stars like P. Lajitha, S.S. Anjana — who were picked for the Indian camp but opted not to go for personal reasons — ball handler Rigi A. Sunny, Sonia Joseph and the promising young Beena, began strongly.

The host enjoyed a healthy 19-7 lead, but was soon left confused by Sri Lanka's blinding speed. Lanka, with its playmaker Premila Fernando leading the charge with her sudden spurts, smart passing and outside shooting, shook Kerala in the second quarter.

The Kerala backcourt could not handle the fast charge and Lanka, making good use of the opportunity, went on a scoring spree through its tall captain Kumarine, left-hander Inoka and Dhanushka.

For a few minutes it looked like Kerala would wither under the pressure. But with around seven minutes to go, Kerala regrouped nicely.

And the tall Beena, who had been sitting in the bench for nearly two sessions, returned with a cool display.

Suddenly, the team seemed to have found its touch. Its defence clicked and Kerala raced to a big lead in the next few minutes.

Sri Lanka tried full-court pressure in the last few minutes, but Kerala, which had now regained its confidence, went on to score a memorable victory.

TN finishes third

Defending men's champion Tamil Nadu finished third, after beating Andhra Pradesh 75-60. Tamil Nadu, virtually the State's second string, had lost to Karnataka 75-84 late last night.

The results: Kerala 83 (S.S. Anjana 16, P. Lajitha 20, Sonia Joseph 24, M. Beena 18) bt Sri Lanka 54 (Dhanushka 15, Kumarine 12).

Men: Final: Kerala 88 (Subash Shenoy 28, Monish Wilson 14, T.S. Abhilash 12) bt Karnataka 78 (Murali Mohan 34). For third place: Tamil Nadu 75 (Thambidurai 16, Chandrasekhar 12) bt Andhra Pradesh 60 (Kumar Varma 17, Nihal Yadav 13).

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