'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAIAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAX/2gAIAQEAAAAAdZ//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG/9oACAECEAAAACv/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/9oACAEDEAAAAFf/xAAjEAACAQIEBwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMABAUHERITFSEyQoLS/9oACAEBAAE/AIslVuziMmxUljldbeaR9/HIOqP07B40uSWGBQOZ3g9W+6//xAAaEQABBQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAEEERUh/9oACAECAQE/ANKST8Kl/8QAFxEAAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECA//aAAgBAwEBPwBZSf/Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Matches continued till late evening on Day 3 of the 32nd Youth National Basketball Championship at Bhavnagar, Gujarat. The Punjab boys’ team continued their winning ways against Haryana, cruising to a 56-22 victory in a one-sided match. The two level 1 girls’ games after 7:30 p.m. on Day 3 were close contests. Last year’s runners up Kerala girls edged past the Delhi team 50 to 45 with a balanced scoring effort, led by Akhila’s 19 points.
The other girls’ game was probably the match of the tournament in the girls’ category so far. Defending champs Tamil Nadu girls faced a resurgent Maharashtra girls team, who were looking to give the champs everything they had. Led by India campers Shruti Sherigar’s 28 points and Rutuja Pawar’s 20 points, Maharashtra almost pulled off the victory with a lead in the final seconds of regular time. However, Tamil Nadu managed to even the scores thanks to the play of point guard M. Nishanthi and last year’s MVP J. Iswara. Heading into extra time, Tamil Nadu clung on to a slim 3-point lead to clinch the victory. M. Nishanthi was huge for her team with 31 points.
Heading into Day 4, three qualification matches for the Level 2 teams were scheduled in the morning session. The winner of these contests would move to the pre-quarterfinals to face a Level 1 team. The Chandigarh boys played a balanced team game and defeated Karnataka 66-64 in a game that went down to the wire. In the girls’ qualification matches, the Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal girls advanced to the pre-quarterfinals with easy victories against Goa and Chandigarh respectively.
In the level 1 games on Day 4 morning, the Andhra Pradesh girls lost both their games at the hands of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh by big margins. The Karnataka girls also comfortably defeated Delhi 57-23, led by Sandhya Raju’s 17 points. Coming off back-to-back victories on Day 3, the Chhattisgarh girls continued their stellar form in a tight contest against a strong Haryana side. Mahima Bhardwaj and Gulabsha Ali each put up 16 points for Chhattisgarh, who held their nerve to clinch a 1-point victory 59-58, thereby handing the Haryana girls their first loss of the tournament.
In the boys’ level 1 games, defending champs Tamil Nadu broke no sweat in their 61-30 victory against Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra boys also made quick work of their opponent Rajasthan in a 57-22 win. The final level 1 boys’ game had a surprise result, with Delhi tipping the strong Uttar Pradesh team 73-65. Delhi was led by Sorav Singha’s 20 points.
Results from Day 3 after 7:30 p.m.
Girls:
Level 1:
Group A:
Tamil Nadu (Shruti Sherigar 28, Rutuja Pawar 20) bt Maharashtra (M. Nishanthi 31, J. Iswarya 20) 79-76 (18-15, 10-23, 19-7, 21-23, Extra time 11-8)
Group B:
Kerala (Akhila 19, Adhika N.P. 11, Sreekala 10) bt Delhi (Sushantika 20, Shubam Ohlan 13) 50-45 (17-15, 18-9, 7-12, 8-9)
Boys:
Level 1:
Punjab (Swapnil Sharma 12, Abhi Kumar 11, Sahil 11) bt Haryana (Rinku 11) 56-22 (16-10, 18-7, 13-0, 9-5)
Results from morning session of Day 4
Girls:
Level 1:
Group A:
Madhya Pradesh (Divyani 20, Vanshita 12, Shruti 6) bt Andhra Pradesh (B. Muripa 8) 54-11 (15-3, 15-6, 10-0, 14-2)
Punjab (Aakarshan 11, Rajandeep Kaur 8) bt Andhra Pradesh 32-3 (13-1, 9-2, 8-0, 2-0)
Group B:
Chhattisgarh (Mahima Bhardwaj 16, Gulabsha Ali 16) bt Haryana (Bharti 21, Meena 10) 59-58 (10-20, 10-9, 15-16, 24-13)
Karnataka (Sandhya C. Raju 17, Snigddha Nair 12) bt Delhi (Sushantika 8) 57-23 (24-7, 7-11, 17-3, 9-2)
Level 2 qualification matches (Winner moves to Level 1):
West Bengal (Paramita Ghosh 22, Mala 14) bt Chandigarh (Amrit Kaur 18, Ramya 11) 67-48 (11-14, 13-7, 20-14, 23-13)
Uttar Pradesh (Harshita 8, Shristi 7) bt Goa 36-3 (12-0, 6-0, 9-2, 9-0)
Boys:
Level 1:
Group A:
Delhi (Sorav Singha 20, Hansraj 14, Aakash Hooda 13) bt Uttar Pradesh (Shivendra 20, Prasun Mishra 13) 73-65 (16-19, 20-10, 27-21, 10-15)
Tamil Nadu (R. Pranesh Kumar 13, P. Baladhaneshwar 10, G.K. Manikandan 10) bt Madhya Pradesh (Harshvardhan 10, Dhananjai 8) 61-30 (22-9, 22-10, 6-6, 11-5)
Group B:
Maharashtra (Faisan Khan 30, Mohd. Musa 8) bt Rajasthan (Bipin Mathew 11) 57-22 (17-8, 14-6, 10-6, 16-2)
Level 2 qualification matches (Winner moves to Level 1):
Chandigarh (Ajmer 19, Amit 18, Anuj 15) bt Karnataka (Dev Mura 23, Pavan Bhat 12, Vishal 12) 66-64 (16-14, 13-20, 14-17, 23-13)
