70th National Basketball Championship: Punjab men and Railways women repeat as champions

Ludhiana, 28th December 2019: The 70th Senior National Basketball Championship 2019 concluded a short while ago at the Guru Nanak Indoor Stadium, with Punjab men and Railways women repeating as champions.

While the Punjab men beat arch-rivals Tamil Nadu 93-75, the Railways women's team staved off Kerala 68-55.

Both the teams were favourites to win and lived up to their billing.

Relive both the finals games:

In the men's section, the giant frontcourt of Amritpal Singh, Amjyot Singh and Princepal Singh was too much to handle for Tamil Nadu. Despite tireless effort on the glass from Tamil Nadu's big two of Jeevanantham Pandi and Aravind Annadurai, Punjab's visibly taller frontline proved their dominance. They were excellently aided by the backcourt duo of Arshpreet Bhullar and Rajveer Singh, who were money from beyond the arc.

Earlier in the afternoon, led by the newly employed international Shireen Limaye, Railways won their third straight title. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh women also secured a rare podium finish by beating Punjab in the bronze medal game.

Semifinals round-up

The semifinals of both the men's division and the women's division were held yesterday, 27th December. While Punjab men's team secured an easy victory over Uttarakhand with a scoreline of 79-67, Tamil Nadu men had to tough it out against Railways where the eventual runner-up managed to eke out a 65-63 win.

In the women's category, Kerala ousted Punjab women with a scoreline of 73-62 while Railways absolutely decimated Madhya Pradesh 106-37 to reach the finals.

Click here to know the results of the group stages and the quarterfinals!