<p>Favourites Indian Railways were given a fright by Kerala before eking out a 67-64 victory in a women’s Group A match of the 64th National Basketball Championship at Thyagaraj Stadium on Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The victory was defending champions’ third successive in the tournament and put them in the last eight stage. It, however, proved to be a narrow escape.<br />Kerala competed with vigour and their defence foiled several good moves. Though Railways managed to finish the first quarter with a slender 18-16 lead, it was Kerala who were up 33-32 at half-time.<br /><br />With their best player Geethu Anna Jose, heavily marked, Railways employed several substitutions but found a resilient Kerala constantly snapping at their heels. <br />The champions, however, managed to pull off a five-point lead, at 49-44, in the third quarter to set up an exciting final period.<br /><br />In the decider, Kerala mounted an impressive comeback to level scores at 58. It was a close fight before Geethu widened the gap to 65-61 with a two pointer and one free throw. <br /><br />Anju Lakra then sank the free throws to put Railways ahead 67-62. Kerala, fighting till the last, added two more points but could not overhaul the defending champions. Geethu top scored with 25 points or Railways. <br /><br />Railways now play Karnataka, who registered their maiden win in the tournament after two losses. Karnataka girls beat West Bengal 75-67 in another Group A match. <br /><br />Meanwhile, Maharashtra topped the Group B by defeating Chhattisgarh 60-56. Shireen Limaye (20) and Sona Saji (10) were the key scorers for Maharashtra.<br /><br />In a men’s match, Indian Railways beat Chhattisgarh 80-58 in Group A. Hirendra S Rathare scored 22 points and Arjun Singh 18. <br /><br />Ajay Pratap Singh scored 14, Sameer Rai 13 and Karan Pal Singh finished with 12 for Chhattisgarh.<br /><br />Tamil Nadu continued their winning streak and entered the quarterfinals with a 78-47 defeat over Delhi in a Group A contest. The loss, which was fourth straight one for the home side, put them out of the race. <br /><br />Karnataka men win<br /><br />In the men’s qualifying match, Karnataka beat Maharashtra 101-96 to enter the pre-quarterfinals. <br /><br />Arvind A scored a game high 44 points while Dhiraj and Rajesh Uppar scored two 3-pointers apiece. Karnataka will face Haryana in another qualifying match on Sunday.<br /><br /><br />Results: Men: Group A: Indian Railways 80 (Hirendra S Rathore 22, Arjun Singh 10, Jaskaran Singh 8) bt Chhattishgarh 58 (Ajay Pratap Singh 14, Sameer Rai 13, Karan Pal Singh 12); Tamil Nadu 78 (Pratham Singh 20, Rikin Pethani 16, S Prasnna Venkatesh 14) bt Delhi 47 (Vinay Kaushik 13, Pravin Dovan 13, Yatan Sharma 9). <br />Group B: Rajasthan 87 (Vinod Kumar 22, Jaynesh Patel 18, Kamran Khan 17, Harshvardhan Singh 12, Prashant Singh 10) bt Andhra Pradesh 31 (Nihal Yadav 8, Shaik Bajid Basha 6). <br /><br />Women: Group A: Karnataka: 75 (Kruthika Lakshman 26, Roshim Rose 14, Sagarika Shyam 14) bt West Bengal 67 (Sukurmoni Oraom 21, Varsha Verma 15, Salma Devi 11); Indian Railways: 67(Geetu Anna Jose 25, S Kokila 8, R Priyadarshni 8, M Pushpa 8) bt Kerala: 64 (Jeena PS 17, Stephy Nixon 14, Neenumol PS 14). <br /><br />Group B: Maharashtra 60 (Shireen Limaye 20, Susan Kenny 13, Saji Sona 10) bt Chhattisgarh 56 (Seema Singh 22, Deepa L 13); Punjab 79 (Kiranjit Kaur 33, Harjeet Kaur 18, Nirmal Kaur 10) bt Tamil Nadu 59 (Nath Murli 15, Soniya Joy 12); Services: 91 (Nerender Grewal 22, Gopal Ram 14, Dalip Kumar 9, Mandeep Singh 9) bt Kerala: 59 (Abhilas TS 11, Basil Dhili 13, Albin Babay 8)<br /><br />Qualifying group: Men: Odisha 92 (Ashok 22, Firoj 19, Ashish Ranjan 13, Sashikanta 12) bt Himachal Pradesh 17 (Anoop 23, Deepak 16, Virender 14); Uttar Pradesh 74 (Shyamvir Singh 27, Bobby Singh 14, Rudraksh K.Pandey 10) bt Jharkhand 60 (Allen Pemer 26, Vikash Kumar 10); Haryana 85 (Deepak 24, Hemant 19, Vikas 16, Pradeep 10) bt Madhya Pradesh 54 (Siddarth 19, Kirti Gos 8); Karnataka: 101 (Arvind A 44, Shrinivas Naik 17, Dhiraj 13, Rajesh 12) bt Maharashtra 96 (AK Gahlot 33, Siddham Shinde 30, Karthik Counder 18). <br /><br />Women: Odisha: 70 (Rajshree Swain 23, Urbashi 14) bt Jammu & Kashmir 29 (Radhika 6); Himachal Pradesh 67 (Baljeeder Kaur 30, Alaka 11) bt Chandigarh 25 (Yogita 8, Karamjeet Kaur 5) Andhra Pradesh 88 (Jilna Jose 29, M Gayathri 22, N Sneha 15) bt Pondicherry 37 (Manjula M 21, Shanthi L 5); Uttar Pradesh 93 (Preeti Kumari 42, Radha Gour 18, Niharika Verma 18, Sakshi Sharma 11) bt Rajasthan 71 (Nisha Sharma 19, Manisha Meena 14, Anita Meena 14).</p>
<p>Favourites Indian Railways were given a fright by Kerala before eking out a 67-64 victory in a women’s Group A match of the 64th National Basketball Championship at Thyagaraj Stadium on Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The victory was defending champions’ third successive in the tournament and put them in the last eight stage. It, however, proved to be a narrow escape.<br />Kerala competed with vigour and their defence foiled several good moves. Though Railways managed to finish the first quarter with a slender 18-16 lead, it was Kerala who were up 33-32 at half-time.<br /><br />With their best player Geethu Anna Jose, heavily marked, Railways employed several substitutions but found a resilient Kerala constantly snapping at their heels. <br />The champions, however, managed to pull off a five-point lead, at 49-44, in the third quarter to set up an exciting final period.<br /><br />In the decider, Kerala mounted an impressive comeback to level scores at 58. It was a close fight before Geethu widened the gap to 65-61 with a two pointer and one free throw. <br /><br />Anju Lakra then sank the free throws to put Railways ahead 67-62. Kerala, fighting till the last, added two more points but could not overhaul the defending champions. Geethu top scored with 25 points or Railways. <br /><br />Railways now play Karnataka, who registered their maiden win in the tournament after two losses. Karnataka girls beat West Bengal 75-67 in another Group A match. <br /><br />Meanwhile, Maharashtra topped the Group B by defeating Chhattisgarh 60-56. Shireen Limaye (20) and Sona Saji (10) were the key scorers for Maharashtra.<br /><br />In a men’s match, Indian Railways beat Chhattisgarh 80-58 in Group A. Hirendra S Rathare scored 22 points and Arjun Singh 18. <br /><br />Ajay Pratap Singh scored 14, Sameer Rai 13 and Karan Pal Singh finished with 12 for Chhattisgarh.<br /><br />Tamil Nadu continued their winning streak and entered the quarterfinals with a 78-47 defeat over Delhi in a Group A contest. The loss, which was fourth straight one for the home side, put them out of the race. <br /><br />Karnataka men win<br /><br />In the men’s qualifying match, Karnataka beat Maharashtra 101-96 to enter the pre-quarterfinals. <br /><br />Arvind A scored a game high 44 points while Dhiraj and Rajesh Uppar scored two 3-pointers apiece. Karnataka will face Haryana in another qualifying match on Sunday.<br /><br /><br />Results: Men: Group A: Indian Railways 80 (Hirendra S Rathore 22, Arjun Singh 10, Jaskaran Singh 8) bt Chhattishgarh 58 (Ajay Pratap Singh 14, Sameer Rai 13, Karan Pal Singh 12); Tamil Nadu 78 (Pratham Singh 20, Rikin Pethani 16, S Prasnna Venkatesh 14) bt Delhi 47 (Vinay Kaushik 13, Pravin Dovan 13, Yatan Sharma 9). <br />Group B: Rajasthan 87 (Vinod Kumar 22, Jaynesh Patel 18, Kamran Khan 17, Harshvardhan Singh 12, Prashant Singh 10) bt Andhra Pradesh 31 (Nihal Yadav 8, Shaik Bajid Basha 6). <br /><br />Women: Group A: Karnataka: 75 (Kruthika Lakshman 26, Roshim Rose 14, Sagarika Shyam 14) bt West Bengal 67 (Sukurmoni Oraom 21, Varsha Verma 15, Salma Devi 11); Indian Railways: 67(Geetu Anna Jose 25, S Kokila 8, R Priyadarshni 8, M Pushpa 8) bt Kerala: 64 (Jeena PS 17, Stephy Nixon 14, Neenumol PS 14). <br /><br />Group B: Maharashtra 60 (Shireen Limaye 20, Susan Kenny 13, Saji Sona 10) bt Chhattisgarh 56 (Seema Singh 22, Deepa L 13); Punjab 79 (Kiranjit Kaur 33, Harjeet Kaur 18, Nirmal Kaur 10) bt Tamil Nadu 59 (Nath Murli 15, Soniya Joy 12); Services: 91 (Nerender Grewal 22, Gopal Ram 14, Dalip Kumar 9, Mandeep Singh 9) bt Kerala: 59 (Abhilas TS 11, Basil Dhili 13, Albin Babay 8)<br /><br />Qualifying group: Men: Odisha 92 (Ashok 22, Firoj 19, Ashish Ranjan 13, Sashikanta 12) bt Himachal Pradesh 17 (Anoop 23, Deepak 16, Virender 14); Uttar Pradesh 74 (Shyamvir Singh 27, Bobby Singh 14, Rudraksh K.Pandey 10) bt Jharkhand 60 (Allen Pemer 26, Vikash Kumar 10); Haryana 85 (Deepak 24, Hemant 19, Vikas 16, Pradeep 10) bt Madhya Pradesh 54 (Siddarth 19, Kirti Gos 8); Karnataka: 101 (Arvind A 44, Shrinivas Naik 17, Dhiraj 13, Rajesh 12) bt Maharashtra 96 (AK Gahlot 33, Siddham Shinde 30, Karthik Counder 18). <br /><br />Women: Odisha: 70 (Rajshree Swain 23, Urbashi 14) bt Jammu & Kashmir 29 (Radhika 6); Himachal Pradesh 67 (Baljeeder Kaur 30, Alaka 11) bt Chandigarh 25 (Yogita 8, Karamjeet Kaur 5) Andhra Pradesh 88 (Jilna Jose 29, M Gayathri 22, N Sneha 15) bt Pondicherry 37 (Manjula M 21, Shanthi L 5); Uttar Pradesh 93 (Preeti Kumari 42, Radha Gour 18, Niharika Verma 18, Sakshi Sharma 11) bt Rajasthan 71 (Nisha Sharma 19, Manisha Meena 14, Anita Meena 14).</p>
