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Spoils of the ball game

Photo: R. Ragu

Slam dunk The players have made a mark

For more than a decade or two, Andhra Pradesh has been a formidable force at the national level in age group basketball. On several occasions, its players have been on the podium.

The teams have had many titles to their credit, if not medal positions.

Performances by the state squads in the recent sub-junior Nationals, held at Sainik School, Kapurthala, Punjab, didn’t get the spoils, but both boys and girls fared quite well.

The southern side’s cause was stymied mostly by the overaged players the leading squads of the tournament fielded.

“Just imagine players who are supposed to be under 13 years of age dunking,” says Norman Isaac, an International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Commissioner.

“The hoop is 10 feet high or at a height of 3.05 metres and here we have players holding it to slam the ball in,” he adds.

“Our boys are without doubt smaller in size but certainly superior in terms of skill,” avers the former national player.

“Unfortunately, the northern teams, particularly, score over us, owing to better height, speed and stamina,”

Isaac adds. Teams such as Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan rely largely on their physical strength while the southern sides stress on technicalities and conformity to rules.

“Playing conditions were pleasant, with occasional showers leaving the weather quite cool and conducive to good displays,” says B. Ravinder, assistant coach of the state team and mentor of many internationals, nursing them from the starting stages.

He is all for the BFI initiative that insists on all 10 players taking to the court in each match for at least one quarter, while prohibiting anyone from playing more than three.

“We hope to introduce this plan here in Hyderabad too, so that we do not become over-reliant on the starting five or the chosen few, whom we bank on most of the time,” Ravinder adds.

The boys failed to make the knockout stage. Tall player and forward Vasisht Naidu fractured his hand in the second match itself. His absence was made up somewhat by David Raju from East Godavari and Secunderabad’s own Abhijeet Noel, who played the roles of ball-handler and forward admirably, the latter emerging top-scorer in two matches.

Faqar Ali Khan caught the eye too, using his height to full advantage.

However, he needs more match exposure to play to his full potential.

The state girls’ team finished fifth, but their double defeat of Maharashtra, a force to reckon with on the distaff side, both in the league and knockout stages, is good cause for cheer.

Andhra Pradesh lost to Jharkhand, who went on to finish third. While Dhanalaxmi, Rojarani and E. Jyothi were in the thick of the action for AP, its top 10 were nowhere near uniform in quality. This proved to be their undoing.

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