<p>Forty two former and current basketball players were felicitated by the Karnataka State Basketball Association at the Sree Kanteerava stadium on Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The function, held during Federation Cup basketball championship, was one for the ages as some of the finest basketball players to have represented Karnataka were rewarded for their achievements.<br /><br />“The game has progressed a lot. I remember when we started we used to play on mud courts, then came clay courts and then there were cement courts. After a while there were wooden courts in Patiala, Delhi and Calcutta so it was a privilege to go and play there,” said K Rajagopal, who represented India between 1969 and 1970.<br /><br />“Now there are wooden courts everywhere so it’s great for the game. The game has also become very physical and fast. It used to be very different back when I used to play in the 60s and the 70s,” he said. <br /><br />While the two-time Indian national team representative felt so, G Dilip, the only Karnataka player to have represented India in the Olympics said the game may have changed but the basics remained untouched. “Now, things are very different. In fact, when I was playing the three-point rule was brought into effect.<br /><br /> It changed everything and the game has continued to evolve, but it’s at the end of the day the same game,”<br /><br />Meanwhile, Indian men’s senior team coach Scott Flemming will conduct a clinic for children and the KSBBA has also decided to conduct an open-for-all three-point shooting competition for men and women as well as a slam dunk competition for men on Sunday. <br />The winners of the three-point competition will receive Rs 10,000 in each category while the victor in slam sunk will take home Rs 10,000 and the runner-up richer by Rs 7,000.<br /><br />List of felicitated players: Men: Kadambi Rajgopal, SA Rangadev, R Jairaj, A Parthasarathy, <br />G Dilip, Selvakumar, R Rajan, Ravi Raju, BS Gautam, A Rajkumaran, J Murali Mohan, Austin D’Almeida, Umashankar C, Sanjay Raj R, Roshan, R Kaushal, Chandrappa, Dr Arvind SR, Sanath Kumar, Guruprakash, Bhaskar Babu, Latif SA, Sanjay Singh, Srinivas Naik, Karan Joshua.<br /><br />Women: Pushpa Kuttanna, Nandina Basappa, Jayavanthi Shyam, Sonam Singh, Kruthika Laxman, Seeth Devaiah, Zarine, Pavithra, PU Navnita, Reshma Chengappa, Reshma Punith, Sagarika Shyam, Sneha Tiwari, Dechamma, Savitha. <br />Coaches: Srinivas Gowda, Captain Ramar P.</p>
<p>Forty two former and current basketball players were felicitated by the Karnataka State Basketball Association at the Sree Kanteerava stadium on Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The function, held during Federation Cup basketball championship, was one for the ages as some of the finest basketball players to have represented Karnataka were rewarded for their achievements.<br /><br />“The game has progressed a lot. I remember when we started we used to play on mud courts, then came clay courts and then there were cement courts. After a while there were wooden courts in Patiala, Delhi and Calcutta so it was a privilege to go and play there,” said K Rajagopal, who represented India between 1969 and 1970.<br /><br />“Now there are wooden courts everywhere so it’s great for the game. The game has also become very physical and fast. It used to be very different back when I used to play in the 60s and the 70s,” he said. <br /><br />While the two-time Indian national team representative felt so, G Dilip, the only Karnataka player to have represented India in the Olympics said the game may have changed but the basics remained untouched. “Now, things are very different. In fact, when I was playing the three-point rule was brought into effect.<br /><br /> It changed everything and the game has continued to evolve, but it’s at the end of the day the same game,”<br /><br />Meanwhile, Indian men’s senior team coach Scott Flemming will conduct a clinic for children and the KSBBA has also decided to conduct an open-for-all three-point shooting competition for men and women as well as a slam dunk competition for men on Sunday. <br />The winners of the three-point competition will receive Rs 10,000 in each category while the victor in slam sunk will take home Rs 10,000 and the runner-up richer by Rs 7,000.<br /><br />List of felicitated players: Men: Kadambi Rajgopal, SA Rangadev, R Jairaj, A Parthasarathy, <br />G Dilip, Selvakumar, R Rajan, Ravi Raju, BS Gautam, A Rajkumaran, J Murali Mohan, Austin D’Almeida, Umashankar C, Sanjay Raj R, Roshan, R Kaushal, Chandrappa, Dr Arvind SR, Sanath Kumar, Guruprakash, Bhaskar Babu, Latif SA, Sanjay Singh, Srinivas Naik, Karan Joshua.<br /><br />Women: Pushpa Kuttanna, Nandina Basappa, Jayavanthi Shyam, Sonam Singh, Kruthika Laxman, Seeth Devaiah, Zarine, Pavithra, PU Navnita, Reshma Chengappa, Reshma Punith, Sagarika Shyam, Sneha Tiwari, Dechamma, Savitha. <br />Coaches: Srinivas Gowda, Captain Ramar P.</p>
