Karnataka girls fall flat

Hosts go down 62-68 against Maharashtra in their second group game at the Junior Nationals

The plague of unprofessionalism, evidently, has its insidious tentacles going all the way down as Karnataka’s Under-18 girls showed up with the same set of flaws as their seniors to lose against Maharashtra on Sunday.

While the final score (68-62) might suggest a tidy contest between evens, it really wasn’t as Karnataka’s lack of direction was off-putting.

In fact, their haphazard movement, disregard for fundamentals and general lack of speed was irksome to the sparse smattering of fans at the 72nd Junior National basketball championship at the Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium here.

Save for Adhya Nagalinga’s zeal at the point position and R Adhya Gowda’s intensity as the power forward, Karnataka had very little going for them.

Even Mekhala Gowda, the skipper, wasn’t particularly proactive as Maharashtra swung the ball to their big - Ananya Bhaskar - and dictated tempo throughout.

Surely, it’s problem that can’t be fixed by coach Sathyanarayana K because he is far too obviously influenced by outside voices to confidently dictate his own terms on the court. In this, he was unable to use the right personnel to box out Ananya, nor was he able to identify players quick enough to stop Mansi Nirmalkar from getting to her spots.

The girls, who face Punjab on Monday, are a talented bunch and show plenty of heart, but without a singular guiding hand at the top, they will find it tough to realise their potential.

In the corresponding category, Karnataka boys posted a 67-55 win over Maharashtra to remain unbeaten in the tournament so far.

Results: Men: Group A: Chandigarh: 91 (Gaurav Kumar Singh 18, Rajan Muttu 18, Deepak 15, Vaibhav Saini 13, Sanju Gajbhiye 10) bt Odisha: 65 (Om Stita Prangya 29, Satyabrat Swain 11); Rajasthan: 84 (Rahul 26, Harin Saini 17, Vikas Choudhary 15) bt Kerala: 63 (Rinil C K 16, Alfin Charley 16, Emmanuel T Shaibu 15).

Group B: Tamil Nadu: 88 (S Ajay 16, V Sharan 16, B Subinvel 15, S Pragalathan 11) bt Mizoram: 71 (Emmanuel VL Awmpuia 14, Lalruatkima 14, Lalrinhlua 11, Moses Lalmuananzoa 10); Uttarakhand: 93 (Hardik Sharma 31, Priyanshu Chand 20, Priyanshu Kumar 11, Sahil Dhami 11) bt Delhi: 78 (Toshit Tomar 24, Mohit 18, Siddant Tomar 15, Paramjeet Shekhawat 10).

Group C: Karnataka: 67 (Vishnu 24, Lingesh K 14, Sanketh 9, Shashank Gowda 9)bt Maharashtra: 55 (Sahil Dhanvanthri 17, Devpremi 12, Shivaraj Patel 13); Punjab: 99 (Harmanjot Singh Cheema 32, Bhanu Pratap Sood 21, Sahabjit Singh 18) bt Manipur: 45 (TH Newton Singh 14, H Rishikanta Sharma 13).

Group D: Madhya Pradesh: 82 (Vikas Sharma 31, Bhagat Singh 26, Harshi Ahlawat 10) bt Andhra Pradesh: 70 (Gurucharan 17, Adarshpaul 15, Sathya Prakash 13, Swarka Natha Reddy 12); Uttar Pradesh: 123 (Mohammed Kaif 26, Kushal Singh 22) bt Assam: 36 (BikashKumar Rai 14, Dilshan Anwar 10).

Women: Group A: Maharashtra: 68 (Mansi Nirmalakar 18, Aanya Bhaskar 18, Riccha Ravi 15, Bhumika Sarje 13) bt Karnataka: 62 (Mekhala Gowda 13, Aadhya Gowda 10).

Group B: West Bengal: 125 (SmritikanaKabiraj 34, Diya Hazra 27, Swatika Sanu 26, Ananya mandal 21) bt Meghalaya: 32 (Wanrikynti Kurbah 12, Lynette P Mylliemngap 12); Kerala: 65 (Ashlin Shiju 21, Avani Nanda 11) bt Madhya Pradesh: 62 (Khushi Pal Singh 31, Samya Wadhani 10).

Group C: Chandigarh: 98 (Arpita Dey 22, Ronak 15, Pooja 11, Kanish Sharma 11) bt Uttarakhand: 48 (Samruddhi Amit Adrawal 17, Yashika Bishit 14); Chhattisgarh: 115 (D Anusha 22, D Kirti 21, Isika Singh 15) bt Assam: 20.

Group D: Tamil Nadu: 133 (Sadhana Veronica 24, Harshaya H 22) bt Nagaland: 27 (Keneingunuo 11); Uttar Pradesh: 95 (Nancy Gupta 38, Vidhi Yadav 18, Aanavi Anand 16) bt Haryana: 82 (Anju 35, Mannu 26, Nancy 17).