JOIN USDYSS, Mandya, claimed the girls’ title in the State Youth (under-16) basketball championship for the Sri M Balavendra Memorial Trophy at the Sree Kanteerava stadium courts on Sunday. Their triumph, however, was not without controversy.
Up against a formidable Mounts Club in the final, DYSS took charge of the proceedings as they led by twelve (41-29) points at half-time. Much to everyone’s surprise, Mounts Club staged a walk-out during the break, citing poor referring, and conceded the match and the title to DYSS, who have been nothing less than dominant in this championship.
“Our premier player is Lopamudra, and none of the players from the opposition can guard her,” said Mounts Club coach Jayavanthi Shyam. “Because they could not stop her from scoring, they began to foul her. They hit her a lot of times when she was driving in. After that point, we decided that we have had enough -- so walked out. We can’t risk the safety of our players.”
Karnataka State Basketball Association officials said there was no case of foul-play during the match. “There was no issue at all. We were asked to sort out an issue when there was no issue, so we did not take it seriously,” said an official on condition of anonymity while adding that the State association may take action against the Mounts.
Sports School, Vidyanagar finished third on the table after their 36-25 win over Indiranagar Basketball Club. Meanwhile, Beagles once again proved that they were ahead of the pack, scoring a hard-fought 42-40 win over SAI, Dharwad in the boys’ final to claim the title.
Erash (17) and Devi Prasad (10) were the major contributors in Beagles’ win while Suraj (13) starred for the runners-up.
Results: Boys, final: Beagles: 42 (Erash 17, Devi Prasad 10) bt SAI, Dharwad: 40 (Suraj 13, Vishal 10). HT: 23-25. Third-place play-off: Southern Blues: 32 (Vimanyu 9) bt Jayanagar Sports Club: 26 (Dimitrius 8). HT: 15-13.
Girls, final: DYSS, Mandya: 41 bt Mounts Club: 29 (Mounts conceded the match at half-time). Third-place play-off: Sports School, Vidyanagar: 36 (Supriya 12, Ranjitha 10) bt IBBC: 25 (Tina 11). HT: 11-8.