The Hindu : Sport : Services beats Railways, enters men’s final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 28, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Services beats Railways, enters men’s final

G. Prasad

Dalip Kumar top-scored for the winner with 29

— Photo: T. SIngaravelou

ROUGH TACKLE: Action from the semifinal between Indian Railways and Services in the 58th senior National basketball championship in Puducherry on Thursday.

PUDUCHERRY: Services had in its ranks experienced players who did not choke under pressure.

It was a key factor as it helped the defending champion score a 91-82 win over Indian Railways men to enter the final of the 58th National basketball championship here on Thursday.

In the other semifinal, Punjab men cruised past favourite Uttarakhand 85-65.

Just like it did against Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Indian Railways applied pressure on the rival defence in the final session.

It even succeeded in bringing down the lead to just three points, at 76-79. Had Yadwinder Singh converted the free throws, things could have been different.

The Services men, apart from being solid at defence, kept scoring at a steady pace.

Dalip Kumar maintained the tempo and his three-pointer towards the end of the final session eased off the pressure.

Railways badly missed its key player Jasjot Singh, who left the court early in the third due to a back injury.

Adding to the misery, Snehpal Singh was fouled-out in the fourth. Also Birendar Singh, who came up with a stunning performance against Tamil Nadu in the final session, could not repeat the heroics.

Railways men’s rebound collection, especially the defensive, was not up to the mark. Its forwards also struggled to penetrate the strong Services defence.

Sweeto Francis and Jairam Jatt combined well not only in defence but also ably supported Dalip Kumar, who top-scored for the winner with 29 points.

Birendar Singh and Yadwinder Singh netted 20 points apiece for Railways.

Punjab held the upper hand from the beginning and never allowed its opponent to settle down.

Women’s final

In the women’s section, holder Railways and Delhi will meet in the final for the sixth successive time. The former had won four of them.

Railways didn’t face much of a problem in overcoming Chhattisgarh 95-51. Geethu Anna Jose chipped in with 20 points for Railways.

In the other semifinal, Delhi defeated Tamil Nadu 85-60. The latter trailed 22-40 at half-time, but fought hard in the next two quarters to score 38 points.

The results: Men: Semifinals: Services 91 (Dalip Kumar 29, Jairam Jatt 18, Sweeto Francis 14) bt Indian Railways 82 (Birendar Singh 20, Yadwinder Singh 20); Punjab 85 (Dilawar Singh 20, Jagdeep Singh 20, Mod Singh 18) bt Uttarakhand 65 (Trideep Rai 23, Sridhar 15, Murali Krishna 10).

Quarterfinals: Sevices 96 (Dalip Kumar 28, Sweeto Francis 19, Jairam Jatt 18) bt Uttar Pradesh 79 (Rajneesh Singh 30); Punjab 82 (Jagdeep Singh 33, Harminder Singh 18) bt Karnataka 65 (Antony Nixon 17, Roshan 12).

Losers knock-out: Final: Jharkhand 93 (Abhilek Paul 25, A. Aftab 24, Arshad 14) bt Orissa 90 (A.K. Nayak 22, N.P. Obrien 18).

Women: Semifinals: Indian Railways 95 (Geethu Anna Jose 20, Seema Singh 15, Bharti Netan 13) bt Chhattisgarh 51 (Aakansha Singh 23, Pushpa 10); Delhi 85 (Prashanthi Singh 23, Divya Singh 22, Sheeba Maggon 21) bt Tamil Nadu 60 (Sunitha Suren 16, Neena 11).

Losers knock-out: Final: Chandigarh 64 (Mandeep 18, Shweta Singh 10) bt West Bengal 35 (Oraon 10).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport