Double delight for Railways

In an exciting contest, Railways men defeated Punjab 75-74 by a whisker to retain the men’s trophy, while women’s team brushed aside last year’s losing finalist Delhi 84-62 to emerge victorious.

In the men’s final, hosts Punjab made a good beginning and looked all set to halt defending champions’ victory march in the tournament. Punjab progressed their way to lead the proceedings 39-34 at the end of first session.

But, in the second and third session, Railways fought tooth and nail for each and every point and made the scoreline read 55-54 in their favour.

Results: Final: Men: Railways 75 (Vishesh B 17, Arjun Singh 17, Yadwinder Singh 20, Prakash Misra 13) bt Punjab 74 (Jagdeep 18, Talwinderjit Singh 26, Dilawar Singh 17, Mod Singh 11).

Women: Railways 84 (Geethu Anna Jose 28, P Anitha 12, Anju Lakra 10) bt Delhi 62 (Shiba Maggon 16, Prasanthi Singh 20, Prathima Singh 10).

Semifinals, women: Delhi 77 (Prashanti Singh 19, Pratima Singh 12, Shiba Maggon 11) bt Chattisgarh 32 (Akansha Singh 7, Sangeeta Nadal 8).