JAIPUR: International Trideep Rai top scored with 28 points as Tamil Nadu defeated Karnataka 91-75 in a keenly contested men's group `B' super league match on the opening day of the 57th National basketball championship at the Sawai Man Singh indoor stadium here on Thursday.

Tamil Nadu was ahead of Karnataka from the outset as Rai, the most valuable player of the 2006 Crown Prince Cup international tournament in Thailand, set out on the attack to score points.

Sukavaneshwar (21) and Ravi Kumar (15) ably assisted Rai as Tamil Nadu emerged the worthy winner.

Later in the evening, host Rajasthan defeated Madhya Pradesh 94-64 with Mod Singh contributing 38 points.

Best match

The best match, however, was the one between Services and former champion Uttaranchal as Services rode on Dilip Kumar's brilliant dunks. Dilip scored 20 points and Phool Singh (17) joined the party as Services defeated Uttaranchal 80-72 in a thriller.

In the women's section, Railways opened its campaign in customary style beating Maharashtra 97-39. Geethu Anna Jose top scored with 22 points as Maharashtra struggled to keep pace with the tactical Railways.

The results:

Men: Super league: Group A: Services 80 (Dilip Kumar 20, Phool Singh 17, S. Siddu 11) bt Uttaranchal 72 (Mohit Bhandari 19).

Group B: Tamil Nadu 91 (Trideep Rai 28, Sukavaneshwar 21, Ravi Kumar 15) bt Karnataka 75 (Roshan 20); Rajasthan 94 (Mod Singh 38, Lokesh 27) bt Madhya Pradesh 64 (Kuldeep 25, Nitin 14).

Women:

Super league: Group A: Railways 97 (Geethu Anna Jose 22, Seema Singh 10) bt Maharashtra 39 (Meenakshi 13). Tamil Nadu 55 (M. Gayathri 14, Kokila 10) bt Kerala 43.

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