Karnataka , Rajasthan teams became national champions

74th National Junior Basketball Championship concluded

Narendra Bhale

Indore: Karnataka and Rajasthan teams won the women’s and men’s titles respectively in the 74th National Junior Basketball Championship held in Indore with a strong performance. In the women’s final, the Karnataka team defeated the Punjab team. In the men’s final, the Rajasthan team defeated the Chandigarh team and won the trophy. Host Madhya Pradesh’s boys team won the bronze medal while the women’s team secured the fourth position.

A total of 52 teams from across the country participated in the national competition held at the local Emerald Heights International School. These included 27 boys’ teams and 25 girls’ teams. In this way, more than 900 players and officials from across the country participated in the competition. The prize distribution took place under the hospitality of MP Cabinet Minister and MP Basketball Association Chairman Kailash Vijayvargiya. During this, Emerald Heights School President Muktesh Singh, MP Basketball Association President Kulwinder Singh Gill, General Secretary Avinash Anand, Punjab Basketball Association Secretary Teja Singh, MP Basketball Association Treasurer Yashwant Singh Kushwaha were also present.
The men’s final was one-sided. Here, Chandigarh team looked novice in front of Rajasthan team. While Rajasthan scored 107 points, Chandigarh team could reach only 49 points. Rajasthan players started attacking from both ends right from the beginning of the match. The team’s strategy was well thought out and there was better coordination among the players. Chandigarh’s game fell apart in front of the continuous attack. Players started trying to stop points instead of attacking, due to which the team’s game started falling apart. Nitesh Singh scored 32 points for Rajasthan team. Apart from him, Ajay Kumar contributed 27 points. Mayank Java contributed 19 points while captain Mohammad Ishan contributed 12 points for the team. Gaurav Kumar Singh scored the highest 22 points from Chandigarh. Apart from him, Om Sita Pragyan scored 10 points while Himanshu Hooda scored six points.
In the girls’ final, there was some competition between Karnataka and Punjab. Karnataka players strengthened their lead in every quarter and increased the margin of victory in the end. Karnataka won the match by a margin of 71-51 points. Captain Aadya Nagalinga scored 16 points for the winning Karnataka team while Aadya R Gowda contributed the same number of points. Apart from these, Aditi Subramaniam scored 12 points for her team. On the other hand, Chanda Gautam scored 20 points from the Punjab team with a solo effort. Nader Dhillon scored 15 points and Komal Preet Kaur scored 12 points.

Status of different teams:

Men: 1-Rajasthan, 2-Chandigarh, 3-Madhya Pradesh, 4-Uttar Pradesh, 5-Punjab, 6-Tamil Nadu, 7-Haryana, 8-Kerala, 9-Andhra Pradesh, 10-Maharashtra.

Women: 1-Karnataka, 2-Punjab, 3-Maharashtra, 4-Madhya Pradesh, 5-Haryana, 6-Tamil Nadu, 7-Telangana, 8-Gujarat, 9-Uttar Pradesh, 10-Rajasthan.