64th Junior Nationals, 2013: UP girls and Punjab boys register memorable wins on Day 2

A Tamil Nadu guard battles against Punjab’s 7ft 1 inch Centre Satnam Singh. Punjab went on to win 94-82.

Two high quality matches were witnessed on day two of the 64^th Junior National Basketball Championship underway in Cuttack, Odisha. The Uttar Pradesh girls’ team bounced back from a loss to Chhattisgarh on the opening day to script an unlikely win over the always formidable Tamil Nadu squad.

The diminutive point guard of UP, Preeti Kumari, who at 5ft 3 inches, was the smallest player on the court, led all scorers with 51 game-changing points. Many of her baskets were made at critical junctures of the game, including 13 points in overtime, which sealed the match in UP’s favour.

“We train for around nine to ten hours everyday, so we were confident about putting on a good show today. This win is important as it can ensure a favourable draw in the semifinals,” said Preeti after the win.

Uttar Pradesh’s pocket dynamo Preeti Kumari

Immediately after, Punjab boys beat Tamil Nadu in their first Group B encounter. There were many eyes focused on today’s match as it featured Satnam Singh Bhamara, the promising 17-year-old, 7ft 1 inch centre who, while not playing for the Punjab junior side, also represents the national team.

In today’s match, however, it was not Satnam, but his fellow international teammate Loveneet Singh Atwal who had a scorching performance, scoring 46 points. Loveneet was unstoppable in his drives to the basket, and also knocked down a handful of three pointers to keep a fighting Tamil Nadu side at bay. Punjab eventually won 94-82.

In a tense late evening match, MP girls took the lead in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter to win against Punjab. With the scores tied and just four seconds left in the game, MP perfectly executed a long range pass from their defensive endline all the way to their offensive three point line. Their layup at the buzzer took them to a 74-72 win.

Kerala boys recorded their second straight win by beating Rajasthan. Despite shooting a poor percentage from the free throw line (16/30), Kerala’s excellent man to man defense ensured that Rajasthan never got into their offensive flow. Kerala maintained a handy ten point lead through the first three quarters and ended up with a 26 point winning margin (82-56).

Results of Matches played on 2nd September 2013 (Monday)

Boys

1. Kerala (Shreerag 25, Sugeeth 12, Jishnu 12, Akhil 11, Arun 10, Ajith 10) bt Rajasthan (Navjot 17, Abhimanyu 12) 82-56 [QT Scores: 22-13, 24-18, 13-13, 23-12]

2. Gujarat (K. Upadhuas 25, A.Dhapa 17) bt Himachal Pradesh (Vishal Sharama 17, Rakesh 10) 80-69 [QT Scores: 22-13, 19-22, 15-19, 24-15)

3. Chandigarh (Harkiart Singh 22, Naveen 15) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Akash Bir 20, Amnjot Singh 11)57-47 [QT Scores: 16-16, 9-12, 11-14, 21-5]

4. Assam (Gaur Nabin 20, Ali Idul 18, Kalita Bijit 15) bt Pondicherry (M. Aichuthan 14, R. Aniruddha 12, P. Poovanna Pemmaiah 11) 61-55 [QT Scores: 19-15, 11-17, 13-8, 18-15]

5. Jharkhand (Roshan 9, Sona 9, Sourav Kumar 8) bt Bihar (Rohit 17, Chandan 6, Gunjan 6)42-36 [QT Scores: 13-3, 19-11, 6-14, 4-8]

6. Punjab (Loveneet 46, Satnam 16, Kushmeet 16) bt Tamil Nadu (S. Karthikeyan 28, P. Raghunath 28, P. Vijay 12) 94-82 [QT Scores: 24-25, 18-14, 23-14, 29-29]

7. Chhattisgarh (Sanjeev Kumar 29, Tarendra Yadav 11, Ravi Kumar 10) bt Maharashtra (Salman Shaikh 17, Sayned Yousuf 12) 67-50 [QT Scores: 11-17, 15-7, 18-18, 23-8]

8. Haryana (Pardeep 16, Naveen 13, Udhvir 10) bt Uttrakhand (Kamal 6) 70-15 [QT Scores: 29-7, 13-2, 16-1, 12-5]

9. Madhya Pradesh (Akash Bhasin 16, Shubhum Mishra 16, Bhrigendra Pratap Singh 16, Syed Anam Ali 16, Lalit Singh 14, Abdul Rahim Khan 10) bt Andhra Pradesh (K. Akhil Vikranth Reddy 7, G. Sai Sri Harsha Reddy 6) 106-35 [QT Scores: 32-20, 23-8, 26-6, 25-1]

Girls

1. Madhya Pradesh (Monika 21, Monal 19, Amishi 17, Princy 11) bt Punjab (Nirmal 29, Kulwinder 11)74-72 [QT Scores: 16-9, 14-20, 20-17, 24-26)

2. Uttar Pradesh (Preethi Kumari 51, Barkha Sonkar 20) bt Tamil Nadu (P. Mathur Varghi 18, R. Shalmila 17, R. Niranjah 15) 83-80 [QT Scores: 20-17, 8-12, 17-16, 23-23, 15-12]

3. Chhattisgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 33, Sangeeta Kaur 25, Kavita Akula 16) bt Haryana (Savita Gadwal 19, Suman Pannu 9) 95-46 [QT Scores: 23-12, 27-10, 26-7, 19-17]

4. West Bengal (Ritu Purna Das 18, Paulami Chatterjee 10) bt Assam (Uma 7, Binita 4) 46-19[QT Scores: 13-4, 14-7, 9-4, 10-4]

5. Andhra Pradesh (Mrunalini Reddy 12, V.Naga Durga 7) bt Uttrakhand (Rida Fatima 14) 37-30[QT Scores: 11-4, 11-6, 9-10, 6-10]

6. Rajasthan (N. Sharma 18, K. Taragi 11) bt Bihar (Akshara 7) 45-7 [QT Scores: 10-7, 13-0, 14-0, 8-0]

7. Himachal Pradesh (T. Bisht 18) bt Gujarat (G. Talwar 10, M. Shikhawat 9) 43-32 [QT Scores: 12-6, 10-15, 8-3]

8. Chandigarh (Akshita 12, Amrinder Kaur 12) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Jasmina 2, Pratibha 2) 54-11 [QT Scores: 11-5, 12-2, 20-2, 5-2]

9. Kerala (Poojamol K. S. 25, Grima Merlin 21, Elizabeth Hilarious 11) bt Maharashtra (Shireen Limaye 19, Sruthi Menon 17) 69-46 [QT Scores: 17-17, 30-16, 11-6, 11-8]

All the match results along with the upcoming schedule will be posted on the BFI website. Regular updates can also be viewed on BFI’s Facebook and twitter pages.

Note: This article has been published with permission from the Basketball Federation of India. The original article, on the BFI website, can be accessed here.