Junior National Basketball Championship: Tamil Nadu girls and Chandigarh boys promoted to Level 1

Kerala (white) against Maharashtra (yellow)

On Day 4 of the 66th Junior National Basketball Championship, the qualifying matches commenced for promotion of teams from Level 2 to Level 1. As expected, the Tamil Nadu girls booked a place in Level 1 as they completely outplayed the Andhra Pradesh girls in a lopsided contest that ended at 48-10. The Rajasthan girls also moved the Level 1 with a victory over Odisha.

In the boys’ matches, Uttar Pradesh moved to Level 1 with a 83-68 win over Gujarat in an offense-heavy contest. Chandigarh pulled off a surprise victory over Chhattisgarh 66-51 to book a place in level 1. Amit remained consistent for Chandigarh with 24 points in this game.

In the Level 1 games on Day 4 morning, the Maharashtra boys were involved in yet another nail-biting contest in the tournament. Taking on Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra got off to a good start and maintained their lead throughout the game. Sameer Qureshi put in 20 points in the victory for Maharashtra. Kerala boys also picked up a victory against the winless Andhra Pradesh side 64-29.

In the other Level 1 boys’ game, Rajasthan captain Mahipal Singh led from the front, scoring 29 points in the win against Karnataka. After their initial loss against Punjab, Rajasthan has looked good with victories since. The tournament has been a nightmare for the Karnataka boys’ team that has not won a single game thus far.

Later in the afternoon, the Delhi boys took on the Haryana side in a game expected to be close. The first half was tight with little to separate the teams. Haryana was running its offense through their point guard Sonu Kumar, whose penetration bothered the Delhi team. However, the second half was a different story as Delhi stepped up on both ends of the floor. Led by their captain Sunil Kumar, who has played on the junior India team, Delhi outscored the Haryana side and dominated on the boards. Sunil’s 33 points helped Delhi register a 98-81 victory.

The level 1 girls’ games for the day began in the afternoon with Uttar Pradesh cruising to a 50-15 victory against West Bengal. Last year’s runners up Kerala girls faced Maharashtra in a high-scoring contest. Maharashtra had a good first half, but could not keep up with the Kerala girls in the second half. Kerala’s superior stamina was on display against the tired and undersized Maharashtra team as they ran away with the game for a 94-73 victory.

The loser knockout quarterfinals also were scheduled for today. In the girls’ category, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir advanced to the loser knockout semifinals with wins against Bihar and Telangana respectively. The Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh girls faced stiffer competition, but prevailed against Chandigarh and Puducherry respectively to also advance to the loser knockout semifinals. In the boys’ category, West Bengal and Odisha boys have advanced to the loser knockout semis so far.

Results from Day 4 up to 6:00 pm

Girls:

Level 1:

Group B:

Uttar Pradesh (Vaishnavi Yadav 13, Shreyasi Vats 8) bt West Bengal (Paulami C. 7) 50-15 (8-2, 15-6, 19-3, 8-4)

Kerala (Amritha A. 14, Kavitha Jose 10) bt Maharashtra (CC Menzes 27, SY Salian 15) 94-73 (24-29, 18-15, 31-13, 21-16)

Level 2 qualifying matches (winner moves to Level 1):

Tamil Nadu (M. Surya 12, S. Srishti 5) bt Andhra Pradesh (S.K. Hafijunnisha 6) 48-10 (13-4, 13-2, 7-2, 15-2)

Rajasthan (Kamlesh 34, Pratibha Shekhawat 13) bt Odisha (Jayshree Bakey 18, Suvanki Sahoo 15) 68-55 (18-15, 19-14, 19-17, 12-9)

Loser Knockout Quarterfinals:

Gujarat (Daxa 18) bt Chandigarh (Akshita 18) 69-54 (15-12, 9-18, 30-8, 15-16)

Goa (Rachel 8) bt Bihar (Kajol 4) 30-6 (8-0, 6-2, 4-2, 12-2)

Jammu and Kashmir (Aashima 13, Paramjeet 10) bt Telangana (Kavya 8, Nuthana 7) 38-17 (5-7, 8-4, 12-2, 13-4)

Himachal Pradesh (Arushi 23, Vishali 18) bt Puducherry (Uma Rani 10, Rathika 8) 52-31 (12-10, 14-12, 14-4, 12-5)

Boys:

Level 1:

Group A:

Maharashtra (Sameer Qureshi 20, Sayyed Yousuf Asif 16) bt Madhya Pradesh (Mithun Das 17, Ashish Briggs 9, Ashwini Pandey 9) 66-63 (21-14, 15-15, 13-13, 17-21)

Rajasthan (Mahipal Singh 29, Akhilesh Kumar Tudu 27) bt Karnataka (Siddarth P.N. 14, Karthik Kumar 14) 76-53 (19-15, 19-21, 25-13, 13-4)

Group B:

Kerala (Jibin John 13, Amal Johnson 11) bt Andhra Pradesh (Sai Sri Harsha Reddy 8, L. Manoj Sivakrishna 8) 64-29 (25-10, 17-3, 12-8, 10-8)

Delhi (Sunil Kumar 33, Vishal Gupta 21, Rachit Kumar 14) bt Haryana (Sonu Kumar 19, Lalit 13, Deepak Kumar (no. 14) 13, Deepak Kumar (no. 15) 13) 98-81 (25-20, 18-25, 28-18, 27-18)

Level 2 qualifying matches (winner moves to Level 1):

Uttar Pradesh (Atal 18, Ashwani 17) bt Gujarat (Mirant 26, Jugal 12) 83-68 (15-15, 19-16, 21-19, 28-18)

Chandigarh (Amit 24, Abhishek 15) bt Chhattisgarh (Pankaj 22, Atul 13) 66-51 (24-9, 13-7, 13-12, 16-23)

Loser Knockout Quarterfinals:

West Bengal (Soumyadip 14, Arka Saha 13) bt Jammu and Kashmir (Amanjot 18, Nirbhay 10, Rohan 8) 70-45 (17-20, 22-16, 17-1, 8-8)

Odisha bt Uttarakhand by way of forfeit

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Edited by Staff Editor