Punjab men in quarters; Karnataka drub J&K

Railways women prove too strong for Delhi

Punjab men, trailing in the first quarter, fought back to post 84-70 victory over Kerala and became the first team to enter the quarterfinals of the 64th National Basketball Championship at Thyagaraj Stadium on Friday.

Down 19-24 in the first half, Punjab came back strongly to go up 38-36 at half time. They extended the lead in the high scoring third quarter and continued in the same vein in the final period to fetch their third win in the tournament.

Palpreet Singh scored two baskets for 31 points (10 Rebounds) and Ranbir Singh finished with 23 points for Punjab. Ajeeth Sugunan and Basil Philips scored 20 points apiece and Albin Baby picked 11 points for Kerala.

Meanwhile, Karnataka continued their domination as they trounced Jammu & Kashmir 99-66, which put them on top of Group D and a step closer to the knockout stage.

They now play toppers of Group E, Maharashtra, in the qualification match on Saturday. For Karnataka, A Arvind top scored with the 22 points while Rajesh P Uppar and P Vishu P notched up 18 points each.

Tamil Nadu, buoyed after their opening match defeat of defending champions Uttarakhand, dislodged Chhattisgarh 71-42 to remain on course for the quarterfinals.
Uttrakahand, however, returned to winning ways after besting Delhi 62-43 in the evening. It was Delhi’s third defeat on trot in the tournament.

In the women’s events, 10-time defending champions, Indian Railways, asserted their class over Delhi with an 87-55 victory. Railways hoopsters were quick in passing and scored heavily from turnovers. Delhi women missed far too many shots, despite starting on a rousing note.



Results (League):  Men: Group A: Tamil Nadu: 71 (S Venkatesh 23, C Dinesh 18, Rikin Pethani 15) bt Chattisgarh: 42 (Karanpal Singh 16, Ajay Pratap Singh 13); Uttarakhand: 62 (Yadwinder Singh 17, Amritpal Singh 16, Riyaz Uddin 13) bt Delhi: 43 (Vinay Kaushik 14, Praveen Dovan 13).

Group B: Services: 101 (Gopal Ram 22, Narender Grewal 14, Joginder Singh 14) bt Andhra Pradesh: 35 (K Mohammad Arshad 11, S Nihal Yadav 8, Rohit 5); Punjab: 84 (Palpreet Singh 31, Ranbir Singh 23) bt Kerala: 70 (Ajeeth Sugunan 20, Basil Philip 20, Albin Babay 11).

Group C: Uttar Pradesh: 66 (Bobby Singh 16, Upendra Kumar 14, Abhishek K. Singh 8) bt West Bengal: 52 (Dhee Raj 14, Choye Lal 14, Harish 9); Haryana: 90 (Vishal Hooda 20, Deepak Rathi 19, Pradeep 16, Balraj Singh 10) bt Goa: 46 (Flobert M 13, Neil Morais 12).

Group D: Chandigarh: 99 (Praveen Kumar 32, Surender 18, Rohit Gulia 17) bt Pondicherry: 56 (Sundarava Divels 21, Hari Krishnan 14, Vinod PG 10); Karnataka: 99 (Arvind A 22, Rajesh P Uppan 18, Vishu P 18, Anil Kumar 14, Sanjay Raj 11 ) bt Jammu & Kashmir: 66 (Iqbal Singh 20, Ranniv Singh 13, Karan Kumar 12, Shubbum Sharma 12).

Group E: Odisha: 61 (A Nayar 19, Ashihs Ranjan 18) bt Bihar: 57 (Yogesh Kumar 23, Abhist Pratap 10); Maharashtra: 102 (Amit Kumar 17, Kartik 17, Jitendra 12, Abhishek 12, Siddhant 10) bt Jharkhand: 36 (Vikash Kumar 11, Allen Peter 8).

Group F: Assam: 68 (Virender 15, Pankaj Rathee 15, Pradeep Kumar 12, Kanmoni Lahkar 10) bt Mizoram: 62 (H Laldinsanea 23, PB Vanalalmuana 16, Nelson Laladohilu 8).

Women: Group A: Kerala: 68 (Jeena PS 29, Stephn Niyon 13) bt West Bengal: 39 (Sukurmoni Orron 15, Sitariani Tudu 7); Indian Railways: 87(Anna Jose Geetu 35, Renu Maurya 9, Radha Krishnan 9, Pushpa M. 9) bt Delhi: 55 (Prashanti Singh 15, Madhu Kumari 12, Pratima Singh 10).

Group B: Maharashtra: 61 (Sona M Saji 12, Krittika Divadkar 9, Keeny Susan Lalu 9) bt Madhya Pradesh: 23 (Sakshi Pandey 8, Sukhpreet Kaur 5); Chhattishgarh: 86 (Kavita 26, Seema Singh 19, Saranjeet Kaur 14) bt Tamil Nadu: 63 (R Ramya 21, Appoorva.M 16, Soniya Joy 12).

Group C: Andhra Pradesh: 67 (Jhna Jose 16, K.Madhavi 13, PU Madhuiathna 12) bt Jammu & Kashmir: 7 (Mutahira Ali 4).

Group D: Haryana: 65 (Bharti 21, Anita 15, Muskan 12) bt Jharkhand: 31 (Jacklin 13, Diksha 9); Haryana: 65 (Bharti 21, Anita 15, Muskan 12) bt Jharkhand: 31(Jacklin 13, Diksha 9).

 Group E: Odisha: 61 (Rajshree 20, Urbashi 15) bt Chandigarh: 37 (Smiti 15, Kiranpreet 5).

Group F: Pondicherry: 44 (M Manjula 11, E Sarasu 8) bt Assam 33 (Laxmi Kumari 10, Smitali Saikia 8); Bihar: 52 (G Safia Suwanju 27, Kavita Pimhlakar 14, Arti Singh 12) bt Uttarakhand: 30 (Jyoti 8, Bhawana 8).