ICF face IOB for title

Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will meet Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) in the final of the 4th edition of the Mulki Ram Sunder Shetty All-India Basketball tournament at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.

ICF churned out a fantastic performance to oust defending champions Vijaya Bank 88-77 in a thrilling semifinal on Saturday. Earlier, IOB sealed their final berth with a dominating 90-57 win over Chennai Customs.

P Vijay was outstanding for ICF. The power-forward shone with a game-high 31 points. Point guard GA Anto Bethle wasn't far behind, adding 26 points to the tally. He also caused plenty of trouble for the opposition with his fine runs and slick passes.

For Vijaya Bank, Navin Raj top-scored with 23 points while junior India player Karthikeyan S contributed 19.

Both the hosts and ICF started well and went toe-to-toe with each other. The Bankmen though landed the first blow, taking a slender 20-18 in the first quarter.

ICF produced a brilliant fightback in the following 10 minutes and snatched the lead (32-31), thanks to K Jaya Venkatesh, who combined well with team-mates to find his way to the basket. Venkatesh stretched the lead further in the next few minutes to 37-31. The Bankmen's lack of communication at the back added to their woes. At half-time, ICF had surged ahead 46-38.

They then kept the scoreboard ticking through Vijay and Bethle, whose speed left the Bankmen frustrated. ICF went up 67-41 at the end of the third quarter.

The final 10 minutes saw a determined Vijaya Bank, led by Arumugam, cut the deficit to six points (72-78) but ICF managed to hold on to score a memorable win.

In the other semifinal, Haresh Koroth starred with 20 points for IOC while India internationals Annadurai Arvind and Pratham Singh each scored 17 points. For Customs, Justin scored 16.

Results: Semifinals: Indian Overseas Bank: 90 (Haresh Koroth 20, Pratham Singh 17, Annadurai Arvind 17) bt Chennai Customs: 57 (Justin 16, Suresh Kumar 10); Integral Coach Factory: 88 (P Vijay 31, Ga Anto Bethle 26) bt Vijaya Bank: 77 (Navin 23, Karthickeyan S 19).

Final: IOB vs ICF (6 pm). Third place: Vijaya Bank vs Chennai Customs (4 pm).