A determined Karnataka side pushed champions Uttarakhand to the limits before losing to their fancied opponents 58-65 in the final Group A game of the 66th Senior National Basketball Championships here on Wednesday.
The loss, however, didn’t jeopardise Karnataka’s chances of progressing into the further stages of the competition as a better point difference against Haryana and Delhi (all teams tied with a win and three loses) meant the hosts are placed third in the group and will play Services in their last-eight tie on Thursday.
The hosts, who had their captain Arvind A ruled out to a bruised eyebrow, were on the back foot from the beginning as the title-holders imposed themselves on the game with forward Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and shooting guard Trideep Rai leading their charge here at the Chamundi Vihar stadium.
While Bhriguvanshi played in a withdrawn role in their previous tie against Haryana, the Indian international was back in his preferred position -- power forward – against the hosts as he combined well with point guard Arjun Singh as the two wreaked havoc in the Karnataka half.
Bhriguvanshi ended the tie with 20 points, four assists and four rebounds on the offence, while Rai was the star of the show as he ruled the paint with 24 points.
Starting the game in place of skipper Arvind, Karnataka’s Issac I did try to mount a challenge against his superior opponents. While he was alert in the defence, pouncing on the loose balls and snatching possession from his marker, his nerves got the better of him in the attacking half as the Army Service Corps player fumbled at the basket on a few occasions, giving off possession. He scored six points, executed three turnovers and two steals in his 14 minutes on the court.
Though skipper Arvind is yet to recover from the injury he sustained against Delhi, Karnataka’s coach Vijendra Devadasen remained hopeful of fielding his skipper in the crunch quarters tie on Thursday.
“His wound is still fresh. But I am confident of playing him in the quarters. He will start tomorrow and if Arvind is comfortable he will continue or else we will have to look for options,” said the coach.
In the other quarterfinal clashes, Uttarakhand will face Railways while Punjab will take on the winner of the pre-quarterfinal tie between Kerala and Chhattisgarh. Favourites Tamil Nadu will also have to await the winner between Haryana and Gujarat before they gear up for their quarters tie.
Meanwhile in the women’s section, Karnataka’s run came to an end with a 49-68 loss to Railways. The defeat, their fourth of the tournament, also meant that the Karnataka eves were relegated to Level II for the coming season.
Favourites Railways, who continued their fine run to maintain an all-win record at the meet, topped in Group B and will take on the winner of the pre-quarterfinal clash between Maharashtra and West Bengal in their quarters tie.
In the other last-eight clashes, champions Chhattisgarh will take on Delhi while Telengana, who have been the surprise packet here, will clash against Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, high-flying Kerala will take on the winner of the pre-quarterfinal tie between Punjab and Rajasthan.
DH News Service
Results: Men: Level 1: Group A: Uttarakhand: (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 20, Trideep Rai 24) bt Karnataka: (Sashi S 11, Anil Kumar 10); Punjab 83 (Gagandeep Singh 20, Talwinder Singh 18, Rajveer Singh 13, Arshpreet Bhullar 12) bt Haryana 66 (Virendra V 23, Bijendra B 11, Satyajeet 12).
Group B: Railways: 84 (Somvier S 28, Palpreet Singh 21, Himanshu Sharma 12) bt Kerala: 70 (Eudrick Periera 16, Ashwin Xavier Philip 15, Monish Wilson 14).
Level 2: Qualifying match: Gujarat: 72 (Shafiq 19, Vinay Kaushik 18) bt Chhattisgarh: 61 (Dinesh Mishra 20, Kiranpal Singh 12).
Women: Level 1: Group A: Maharashtra: 73 (Manisha Dange 22, Shireen Limaye 18, Sangeeta Mandal 18) bt Madhya Pradesh: 56 (Sakshi Pandey 18); Kerala: 72 (Jeena PS 20, Stephy Nixon 14, Neenumol PS 13) bt Telangana (Divya P 13): 46.
Group B: Tamil Nadu: 57 (R Varshanandhini 20, K Prithi 11, Renjini Peter 10) bt Punjab: 37 (Harpreet Kaur 13, Indu Kumari 11); Railways: 68 (Raja Priyadarshini 19, Anitha Pauldurai 12, Sruthi Menon 10) bt Karnataka: 49 (Bhandavya HM 13, Savita S 10, Lopamudra 10).
Level 2: Qualifying match: West Bengal: 74 (Anjana Dezy 25, Madhu Kumari 17, Libina 16) bt Rajasthan (Nisha 27, Kumud Khatri 11): 54.
Qualified teams: Men: Pre-quarterfinal: Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujarat
Quarterfinals: Karnataka, Services, Railways, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Tamil Nadu
Women: Women: Quarterfinal: Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Railways
Pre-quarterfinal: Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal
Today’s action: Men: Pre-quarterfinals: Kerala vs Chhattisgarh; Haryana vs Gujarat.
Quarterfinals: Karnataka vs Services; Railways vs Uttarakhand; Punjab vs winner of PQF 1; Tamil Nadu vs winner of PQF 2.
Women: Pre-quarterfinals: Punjab vs Rajasthan; Maharashtra vs West Bengal.
Quarterfinals: Tamil Nadu vs Telangana; Chhattisgarh vs Delhi; Kerala vs winner of PQF 1; Railways vs winner of PQF 2.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks