27th Federation Cup Basketball: Punjab Police hasten exit of Vijaya Bank

Carrying the tag of being a ‘favourite’ sometimes sits cozily on the reigning champions and sometimes it doesn’t. Punjab Police did quite live up to the billing suffering a shocking defeat at the hands of Indian Air Force in their tournament opener – the biggest upset of the championship so far.

The Punjab cops seemed to have recovered from that stunning loss when they outplayed Captain’s Club, Delhi in a convincing manner (74-53) in their second game after being engaged in an evenly contested opening half (36-32).

With an extra spring in their strides after returning to winning ways, Punjab Police showed why they are touted as one of the strong title contenders as they hastened the exit of Vijaya Bank 72-61 – the bankmen later saying goodbye to the tournament losing narrowly 72-82 to Captain’s Club, Delhi.

For the Punjab cops, Ranbir Singh caged 22 points, while internationals Palpreet Singh and Amritpal Singh scored 21 and 15 points respectively.

Punjab cops led 37-30 at half-time.

In another match, ONGC looked down and out against Indian Overseas Bank before their skipper and national team captain Vishesh Briguwanshi produced a rescue act steering the national champions to a tough 58-51 victory.

Briguwanshi caged 14 points while Yadwinder Singh chipped in with 13 points. ONGC are through to the semifinals.

Results

Men: Group ‘A’: ONGC bt IOB 58-51; IAF bt Central Excise and Customs 92-82; Punjab Police bt Vijaya Bank 72-61; Captain’s Club Delhi?bt Vijaya Bank?82-72.

Group ‘B’: South Central Railway bt Jind Dist, Haryana 87-72.

Women: Group ‘A’: South East Central Railway bt Karnataka 73-55; Kerala bt Delhi 66-42;SECR?bt Delhi 64-38.

Group ‘B’ Tamil Nadu bt Maharashatra 72-43.