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No stopping the Railways juggernaut

Kamesh Srinivasan

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

MARCHING ON:Railways women brooked no resistance on way to the title.

NEW DELHI: Railways men and women asserted themselves yet again to retain the titles in the IMG-Reliance 61st National basketball championship at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

While it was the umpteenth title for the Railways women, it was a hat-trick of triumphs for the Railways men who played with clinical efficiency despite their star players Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Yadwinder Singh keeping a low profile.

Railways women overwhelmed traditional rival Delhi 95-55 after a tussle in the first quarter when the teams were locked 18-18 while the men were tested more by Services before recording a 74-62 win.

Brilliant Jayaram

Services set up a good pace, thanks to the brilliance of Jayaram Jat. However, he did not get the support he deserved and Railways had little trouble in overcoming a 15-20 deficit in the first quarter to lead 39-30 at half-time and 57-47 at the end of the third quarter.

Jayaram accumulated 25 points and had support mainly from Dalip Kumar (14) and Sambhaji Kadam who came up with 10 points.

In contrast, Railways had many players capable of rising to the occasion. It was Arjun Singh who did the job this time as he proved his utility with 27 points and wound up the show with a three-pointer — only the second for his team after the one by Vishesh Bhriguvanshi.

Gagandeep Singh's contribution (13) was significant since Bhriguvanshi (9) and Yadwinder Singh (8) struggled.

It was a complete team effort as Railways combined well to execute coach Ram Kumar's plans meticulously.

Geetu sizzles

In the women's final, skipper Geetu Anna Jose was once again the pillar of strength as she top-scored with 29 points.

She had solid support from P. Anitha, M. Pushpa, R.K. Smruthi and Anju Lakra, who shot two three-pointers in the climax to get the team close to the century mark.

Delhi was once again served well by skipper Raspreet Sidhu, Prashanti Singh and Akanksha Singh but badly missed the services of Pratima Singh who was out with a knee injury suffered during the semifinals.

Shiba Maggon, who shot nine points for Delhi and was also a member of the trophy-winning Railways and Delhi teams, announced her retirement.

She would, however, be involved in the game as a coach.

Cash prizes

The champion teams were presented Rs. 1,50,000 each and the runners-up Rs. 1,00,000.

Punjab men, who beat Kerala 89-67, and Tamil Nadu women, who beat Chhattisgarh 55-51, in the matches for third place were presented Rs. 50,000 each.

The results (finals):

Men: Railways 74 (Arjun Singh 27, Gagandeep Singh 13) bt Services 62 (Jayaram Jat 25, Dalip Kumar 14, Sambhaji Kadam 10).

Women: Railways 95 (Geetu Anna Jose 29, M. Pushpa 15, Anju Lakra 15, P. Anitha 13, R.K. Smruthi 12) bt Delhi 55 (Raspreet Sidhu 16, Prashanti Singh 16, Akanksha Singh 10) .

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