Consolation win for Delhi

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 1. The Delhi women's team wound up its campaign with a morale-boosting 84-48 victory over Bhilai Steel Plant in the 29th Master Prithvi Nath Sharma memorial basketball tournament at the Prithvi Nath Stadium, Ajmal Khan Park, here on Monday evening.

It was a welcome result for the Delhi team, which had performed creditably against Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) Limited, Kerala, before losing by a three-point margin that scotched its hopes of qualification for the finals.

Prabhjot Gill was the star of the Delhi team as she collected 31 points, while Shymol Jacob (22) and Shakun Singh (12) chipped in with useful contribution. Rameshwari (9) and

Anisha Choudhary (8) also played well for Delhi, which was a bit subdued in the third quarter when it scored 12 points to 20 by its opponent.

However, Delhi had by then asserted its domination with a 41-18 lead at halftime, and thus there was no real threat of losing the battle, against Bhilai Steel Plant which finished without a win in the four-member league.

Mridula Adil was the top-scorer for the Bhilai team which scored 38 points to 36 by the Delhi team in the second half. Seema Singh (9), Parwati Sahu (6), N. Bharti (6) and Anamika Jain (5) were some of the other contributors for the Bhilai team's total.

If anything, the Delhi girls beat the rain in scoring their only win in three matches, as the day's programme was marred by wet weather later in the evening.

The first semifinals in the men's section between TISCO and Services could be played only for 4 minutes and 15 seconds when heavy rain intervened to force the players away from the court.

Sambhaji Kadam, Dalip Kumar and Phool Singh had scored two points each in helping Services lead 6-5. TISCO had opened its account through Jaldeep Dhaliwal and Mohit Bhandari shot a three-pointer to bridge the gap, even as the players warming up for more serious action.

If the resumption is delayed beyond two hours, the match would begin all over again. The organisers were indeed worried about finishing the programme as steady rain made it a bleak affair.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Indian team for the 19th Asian Basketball Championship, M. Meena Latha, expressed confidence that the team would qualify for the higher group in the meet to be held in Bangkok from October 4 to 11.

The Indian team will be competing in the tournament for the first time after 1997. Incidentally, Meena Latha was also a member of the team then. She had played in the Asian junior championship in 1996 also, and both the tournaments were held in Bangkok.

``We have had very good preparation in the camp in Bangalore. The camp lasted for two and a half months. We practised with the same ball that is being used in the tournament, and the indoor conditions were good'', said Meena Latha, hours before leaving for Bangkok on Monday evening.

``We are playing teams like Malaysia, Lebanon and Macau. It is not like playing China, Korea, Japan or Chinese Taipei. We should do well'', said the Indian captain.

The top two teams from the lower group will qualify into the higher group for the next edition, and the Indian team exuded confidence that it would live up to the expectations.

``The team has an average age of 20. They are reaching the venue two days in advance. Hopefully, they will acclimatise to the conditions and play well'', said the general secretary of the Basketball Federation of India, Mr. Harish Sharma.

The team: Meena Latha, Shiba Maggon, Nishitha Chaudhari, K. Rajalakshmi, Ivy Cheriyan, Renjini Jose, Anju Lakra, Poonam Singh, P. Anitha, Rigi A. Sunny, Sofi Sam and Pavithra Chandra; stand-by: Arnika Gujar; coach: Mr. Manjit Singh; assistant coach: Mr. Abdul Hamid Khan; manager: Ms. Suman Sharma.

The results: Women (league): Delhi 84 (Prabhjot Gill 31, Shymol Jacob 22, Shakun Singh 12) beat Bhilai Steel Plant 48 (Mridula Adil 10).

Men: Services 91 (Phool Singh 21, Peter John 15, Dalip Kumar 12, G.R.L. Prasad 12) beat Western Railway 66 (Ranjeet 22, Mahipal Singh 18, Ram Kumar 15).

TISCO 94 (Des Raj 31, Jaldeep Dhaliwal 25, Mohit Bhandari 16, Wasim Khan 15) beat Andhra Pradesh 70 (B. Harikrishna Prasad 23, P.B. Srinath 19, S. Vinay Kumar Yadav 14).

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