Karnataka campaign ends in tame fashion

Basketball Senior Nationals : Uttarakhand beat Railways 84-64 to enter semis

It was curtains for Karnataka’s challenge at the 66th Senior National Basketball Championships as they bowed to Services in the quarterfinals here on Thursday.

The hosts, who had their skipper Arvind A back in the mix, were a threat only in the initial phase of the tie as a dominant Services side displayed some smart basketball to notch up an 89-63 win and march into the semifinals.

The Jayram Jat-led side will now take on Punjab, who beat Kerala 104-77, in their last-four clash. In the other semis, champions Uttarakhand, who drubbed Railways 84-64 will entertain Tamil Nadu for a place in the summit clash here at the Chamundi Vihar Stadium. Tamil Nadu beat Gujarat 82-50 for a place in the last four.

Returning to the side after missing their final group game on Wednesday to an eyebrow injury, skipper Arvind’s presence was vital for his side as the Indian international complimented his partner Sashi Kumar well and the duo held things tight at the back.

On the attacking front, it was once again the Army Service Corps player Isaac I who, along with point guard Rajesh Uppar and power forward Anil Kumar, who tried to upset the Services rhythm.

Isaac was aggressive going ahead, finding Anil Kumar at will, while the experienced Rajesh was restricted to shooting from the key by a tight Services defence.

Though they managed to sneak out a slender four-point lead at the end of the opening quarter, that was the best the hosts could produce as Services — led by their sharp shooting forward Narender Grewal — rallied in fine fashion to produce one of their best performances of the meet so far.

Grewal top-scored for the Services side with 24 points, five assists and three rebounds, while his international counterpart Joginder Singh pocketed 17 points, six assists and one rebound.

For Karnataka, it was Anil Kumar who stood out with his pace and dunking abilities. The forward finishing with the figures of 20 points and two assists.

In the women’s section, high-flying Telangana continued their magical run with a convincing 70-52 win over Tamil Nadu, while Delhi knocked out champions Chhattisgarh in what was a repeat of last year’s final.

In the semifinals, Telangana will take on Railways, who beat West Bengal 80-44 in their quarters tie, while a confident Delhi will once again look up to their skipper Neha Joshi — who had an excellent time on court against Chhattisgarh — when they face a strong opposition in Kerala in their last-four tie.

Though forward Pratima Singh was unstoppable going ahead for Delhi in their quarters, it was their centre Neha who stood out for the winners as she boxed out Chhattisgarh’s pivot Poonam Chaturvedi with ease giving her no space inside the paint.

Results: Men: Quarterfinals: Services: 89 (Narender Grewal 24, Joginder Singh 17, Jayram Jat 15) bt Karnataka: 63 (Anil Kumar 20, Aravind A 12); Uttarakhand: 84 (Vishesh Bhrighuvanshi 26, Trideep Rai 22, Murali Krishna 15) bt Railways: 64 (Himanshu Sharma 16, Raj Kalbhor 12); Tamil Nadu: 82 (Siva Balan 15, Aravind A 15, Prasanna Venkatesh 14) bt Gujarat: 50 (Dishant Shah 14, Vinay Kaushik 13); Punjab: 104 (Talwinder Singh 24, Arshpreet Bhullar 20, Gagandeep Singh 17) bt Kerala: 77 (Robin S 24, Manoj R 21, Jishnu Nair 16).

Pre-quarterfinals: Kerala: 75 (Monish Wilson 16, Jishnu Nair 15, Basil Philip 12) bt Chhattisgarh: 69 (Dinesh Mishra 16, Shiv S 15, Rudraksh R 15); Gujarat: 88 (Dishant Shah 30, Dhaval D 27, Harpal H 15) bt Haryana: 69 (Bejendra Kumar 16, Deepak Rathee 15, Virender 13).

Women: Quarterfinals: Telangana: 70 (Divya P 26, Ramya R 19, Anusha Anto 12) bt Tamil Nadu: 52 (Varshanandini R 10); Delhi: 84 (Pratima Singh 36, Prashanti Singh 24, Raspreet Sidhu 12) bt Chhattisgarh: 76 (Poonam Chaturvedi 44, Bharti N 11); Railways: 80 (Rajapriyadarshini 14, Smruthi Radhakrishnan 13, Shruti Menon 13) bt West Bengal: 44 (Sanma D 17, Anjana Dezy 11, Madhu Kumari 10); Kerala: 58 (Jeena PS 10, Neenumol PS 10) bt Punjab: 24 (Indu Kumari 12).

Pre-quarterfinals: Punjab: 84 (Kirandeep Kaur 18, Indu Kumari 18, Harjeet Kaur 17) bt Rajasthan: 66 (Nisha Sharma 30, Asha Naik 17); West Bengal: 82 (Madhu Kumari 23, Anjana Dezy 20, Libina MJ 20) bt Maharashtra: 50 (Manisha Dange 18, Shireen Limaye 12).

Today’s matches (semifinals, starts from 2.30 pm): Men: Tamil Nadu vs Uttarakhand; Services vs Punjab.

Women: Indian Railways vs Telangana; Kerala vs Delhi