Youth Nationals QFs: Chhattisgarh, Kerala win rematches of 2010 Youth Finals

With the knockout round looming, the young stars of Indian Basketball faced a do-or-die situation at the Divisional Sports Complex during the 28^th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls. An exciting afternoon match saw two blistering individual performances, as Akash Bhasin of Chhattisgarh (54 points) and Loveneet Singh of Punjab (41) went blow for blow in a shootout for the ages. Meanwhile, the host Maharashtra sides had no trouble shrugging off opponents as they strolled into the Semi-Finals.

When Punjab Boys, the winner of the 2010 Youth Nationals in Trichy, strolled into their Quarter-Final match-up against Chhattisgarh, the team they beat in last year’s finals, they were riding high on a nearly-perfect record at the group stage. At the end of the first quarter of this game, it seemed that Punjab, holding on to a slight lead, would be on course to booking their place in the Semi-Finals.

But Chhattisgarh had other plans – led by Akash Bhasin, Chhattisgarh mounted a comeback and took the lead. While Bhasin was on fire for his side, Punjab’s Loveneet Singh readily accepted the challenge and responded, turning the game into a mesmerising shootout between the two young stars. The fourth quarter became a battle between the two as the game stayed close – Bhasin scored 21 points in a legendary fourth quarter performance, while Loveneet countered with 16 of his own in the fourth. With the game tied at 73, Bhasin completely took over, scoring the last nine points of the game and leading his team to a memorable 82-73 victory. Bhasin finished with 54 points while Loveneet had 41 in an upset loss for Punjab.

Maharashtra, the hosts, is fielding one the most consistent sides of the tournament in their girls’ team. In a potentially tricky Quarter-Final game against Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra’s superstar Shireen Limaye once again stepped up to take the game away from her opponents. After the game was close at halftime, the home side found their groove in the third quarter, defending hard and scoring at will at the other end. By the end of the game Maharashtra had blown out TN by 24 points for a comfortable 83-59 win and set up an important Semi-Finals date with Chhattisgarh Girls, who had defeated Karnataka earlier. Shireen had 24 points while Kritika Diwadkar contributed 21 in the win. R Sharmila (19) and R Niranjana (16) were the best players for TN.

Maharashtra Boys also had a field day in their Quarter Final clash against Rajasthan. After a slow start, Maharashtra’s top scorer Saleem Malik (32 points) found his stroke and helped his team secure a big first half lead. His opposing star Pradeep also had a 32-point game for Rajasthan, but Maharashtra won the game, 86-72.

The rematch of last year’s Youth Girls’ Final was also on the show at the Quarter-Final stage when Kerala Girls took on Uttar Pradesh. Behind a motivated performance by Prami P (21), Kerala dominated the entire game end to end and finished with a big victory, 78-43, to book their place into the Semis.

Quarter Final Scores

Boys: Chhattisgarh (Akash Basin 54) bt. Punjab (Loveneet Singh 41) 82-73 (14-17, 18-15, 23-21, 27-20).

Boys: Maharashtra (Saleem Malik 32, SK. Salman Moinuddin 14) bt. Rajasthan (S. Pradeep 32, Manjot Singh Sandhu 13, Sivang Singhal 11) 86-72 (22-15, 23-16, 19-22, 22-19)

Boys: Delhi (Pradeep Kumar 21, Pankaj Rathi 19) bt. Haryana 66-65 (Himanshu Sharma 27, Rakesh Sangwan 14, Rahul Sharma 11) (10-18, 20-19, 15-16, 21-12)

Boys: Madhya Pradesh(Shubham Mishra 19, Gopal Singh Rathore 18, Syed Aiyam Ali 17) vs Tamil Nadu 87-55 (S. Karthseketyan 23, A. Aravind 14) 87-55 (21-18, 42-10, 12-14, 8-13).

Girls: Chhattisgarh (Dash Anjana 36, Irya Sandhya 14) bt. Karnataka (Praneetha S 14) 64-43(15-10, 21-9, 15-9, 13-15).

Girls: Kerala (Prami P Lal 21) bt. Uttar Pradesh (Garima Singh 14) 78-43 (23-11, 12-10, 26-14, 17-8)

Girls: Maharashtra (Shireen Limaye 24, Kritika Diwadkar 21) bt Tamil Nadu (R Sharmila 19, R Niranjana 16) 83-59 (21-19, 18-15, 24-9, 20-16)

Girls: Haryana(Monika Vats 28, Bharti Singh 20, Anju Bhalothia 19, Rimpy Hooda 13) bt. Punjab 82-44 (Nirmal Kaur 25) 82-44 (15-9, 18-15, 17-14, 32-6)

Semi-Final Fixtures

Girls: Chhattisgarh vs. Maharasthra

Boys: Maharashtra vs. Delhi

Girls: Kerala vs. Haryana

Boys: Chhattisgarh vs. Madhya Pradesh