#13:  41^ST SUB-JUNIOR NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP – DEFENDING CHAMPS CHHATTISGARH THROUGH TO FINALS; UP GIRLS AND RAJASTHAN BOYS SECURE THIRD PLACE

(Vishnu Ravi Shankar) Nashik, 27-28 November 2014: The semi-final matches held yesterday evening were high scoring contests with teams and players putting up big numbers. The Kerala girls qualified for the finals of the 41^st Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship defeating Haryana 96-78, despite Haryana player Meenu’s record-breaking 50 points. Kerala captain Sreekala carried her team through with 42 points. Defending champions Chhattisgarh girls made it to the finals again with a 73-65 win over Uttar Pradesh, on the basis of a balanced scoring effort.

In the boys semi-finals, Madhya Pradesh got off to a hot start against Odisha and withstood an Odisha comeback in the second half to pick up a 78-61 win and book a place in the finals. In the other boys semi-final, defending boys champs Chhattisgarh defeated Rajasthan 96-85, with multiple Chhattisgarh players in double digits – Chhattisgarh will now face Madhya Pradesh in the finals in a clash between neighbouring states.

On the morning of the final day of the tournament, the Uttar Pradesh girls defeated Haryana to win 3^rd place. This game was more of a battle between two players – Vaishnavi Yadav of UP and Meenu of Haryana. Vaishnavi Yadav scored a massive 57 points, but Meenu broke her own record set yesterday by scoring a tournament high 65 points! The boys bronze medal game was won by Rajasthan, who defeated Odisha 73-61, without much hassle.

The finals will be held later today evening -  (i) Boys: Chhattisgarh v. Madhya Pradesh and (ii) Girls: Chhattisgarh v. Kerala.

The details of the semi-final matches held on 27 November 2014 are as follows:

Semi-finals:

Girls:

Kerala (Sreekala 42, Aparna 28) bt Haryana (Meenu 50, Ankita 11) 96-78 (28-27, 10-10, 30-20, 28-21)

Chhattisgarh (Elizabet E. 22, Shweta S. 14) bt Uttar Pradesh (Vaishnavi Y. 34, Shivangi G. 16) 73-65 (17-13, 22-13, 10-20, 24-19)

Boys:

Madhya Pradesh (D. Raj 22, Harshwardhan 16) bt Odisha (S. Das 20, Suresh 18) 78-61 (31-18, 10-6, 12-21, 25-16)

Chhattisgarh (Salim A. 18, Saif Ali Khan 17) bt Rajasthan (Kuldeep Singh 36, Nishij T. 12, Rajveer B. 12) 96-85 (28-22, 23-20, 18-18, 27-25)

The details of the matches held on 28 November 2014 up to 1.30 p.m. are as follows:

3^rd and 4^th place match:

Girls:

Uttar Pradesh (Vaishnavi Yadav 57) bt Haryana (Meenu 65) 98-95 (27-27, 13-16, 24-26, 34-26)

Boys:

Rajasthan (Kuldeep S. 21) bt Odisha (Suresh D. 29) 73-61 (20-11, 11-10, 20-20, 22-20)

For 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th classification:

Girls:

Madhya Pradesh (Divya S. 20) bt Maharashtra (Sudhiksha N. 24) 62-60 (8-14, 10-10, 20-15, 24-21)

Tamil Nadu (T. Monika 15) bt Karnataka (Grishman 15) 52-43 (18-15, 20-9, 8-8, 6-11)

Boys:

Andhra Pradesh bt Assam (Assam team not present – match forfeited by Assam)

Haryana bt Uttar Pradesh (Uttar Pradesh team not present – match forfeited by Uttar Pradesh)

5^th and 6^th place:

Girls:

Tamil Nadu (T. Monika 16) bt Madhya Pradesh (Divya S. 26) 55-40 (29-13, 12-7, 8-10, 6-10)

Boys:

Haryana (Mohit 27) bt Andhra Pradesh (S. Sachin 15) 88-83 (23-18, 21-27, 26-16, 18-21)

About the 41^st Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship

The Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship is an annual national tournament for U-14 boys’ and girls’ teams from states across India. The Nashik District Basketball Association and the Maharashtra State Basketball Association under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India and IMG-Reliance are conducting the 2014 tournament on the two wooden courts at the Meenatai Thakare Indoor Stadium here in Nashik. The tournament will be conducted over a period of 7 days from the 22^nd to the 28^th of November 2014. This year’s tournament is witnessing the participation of 27 boys’ teams and 25 girls’ teams from various states of the country. The 2013 version tournament was conducted in Patna, Bihar. The Chhattisgarh teams won both the boys and the girls category last year, while the Madhya Pradesh boys and the Tamil Nadu girls finished runners-up respectively. 

About the Basketball Federation of India

The Basketball Federation of India or BFI is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India, and is responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. BFI has been involved in conducting camps, clinics, events, and training sessions at its academies for the development of basketball. BFI came into being in 1935 and took complete control over Indian basketball in 1950. Prior to that time, the Indian Olympic Association handled the conduct of Indian basketball championships. Since 1950, the BFI has been conducting various such championships, from the grassroots to senior team participation in international tournaments. In addition, the BFI has been responsible for the establishment of strong sub-junior and junior level programs. The BFI has to its credit produced several international players of repute, among them 17 have been bestowed with the honor of Arjuna Award. More information at www.indiabasketball.org