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THE FANS
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It was a sea of red and green at the Asian Junior Basketball Championship
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Fans from Iran, Korea, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Qatar made the 18th Asian Basketball Championship a colourful one. -- Photos: K. Bhagya Prakash
THE IRANIANS were conspicuous. Either at the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex, in far away Hanumanthnagar, or at the "sprawling" Sree Kanteerava Indoor stadium, to where the championship was later shifted.
From abroad
The Iranians, most of them students of all hues and ages, came along to cheer, and at the end of the 10-day fun and frolic in the Asian Junior Basketball Championship, did see their team at the podium. Jaber Darrehsari the towering lad, standing 223 cms in his socks, was the darling of the crowds, Indians included.
The Koreans brought a touch of "red" with them. Sporting red T-shirts and caps, the Koreans — most of them in software and other corporate houses in the city — though disappointed at the final result, losing by a mere two points, surely had reasons to smile: "Good game... They fought back really well... " were the comments chorused. Teams from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Qatar too had their share of supporters. A vocal lot that saw the decibel levels soaring to optimum point, but then nobody was complaining.
As for the Indians, the crowds came in droves and left soon after. But during the time that the local fans were there, it was virtual pandemonium... and the Indians did give the lot something to cheer about at least in the preliminaries.
The match against Yemen turned out to be a real humdinger, and when a long tricolour waving, youngster ran through the midst of Yemeni supporters numbering a few hundreds, there was palpable tension. But then along with the players, the crowds too came in speaking a common language, that of BASKETBALL. A feast it was for the followers of the game that has seen many stalwarts emerging from this city.
AVINASH NAIR
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