Youth National Basketball Championships: Chhattisgarh boys knock out hosts Gujarat after major rain delay

Chattisgarh player (in blue) attempts a shot

After the morning session on Day 5, the matches began in cloudy weather in the evening. Only one game – a loser’s knockout quarterfinal – had concluded when rains lashed down in Bhavnagar. The Tamil Nadu and Kerala girls’ quarterfinal game was stopped midway in the first quarter with Tamil Nadu leading 5-1. The loser’s knockout quarterfinal was between the Bihar and Puducherry girls, with Puducherry advancing to the loser’s knockout semis in a low-scoring contest.

The rains continued through the evening and night. The morning session on Day 6 started late after a light drizzle cleared and the grounds were rapidly cleaned and dried up. The first game scheduled was the pre-quarterfinal between hosts Gujarat boys and Chhattisgarh. Gujarat finally met their match in the competition after an unbeaten run. Chhattisgarh cruised to an easy 35-9 victory, extending deep into their bench.

After the game, the rains came down again. The matches have been temporarily halted until the bad weather clears.

Result from evening session of Day 5

Puducherry (Aishwarya 10) bt Bihar (Nisha K. 3) 19-3 (8-0, 7-1, 7-2, 0-0)

Result from Day 6 so far

Chhattisgarh (Anurag 16, Vinod Rajak 7) bt Gujarat (Karan 6) 35-9 (15-7, 11-0, 0-0, 9-2)

The 32nd Youth National Basketball Championship is being conducted in Bhavnagar, Gujarat from 14th to 20th September 2015 by the Gujarat State Basketball Association in association with the Bhavnagar District Basketball Association and the Youngsters Basketball Club, Bhavnagar under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India.

The tournament shall see the participation of 43 teams from different states, which includes and 22 teams in the boys’ category and 21 teams in the girls’ category, in the ‘16 and under’ age group. Last year’s Youth National Championship was held in Chandigarh. The winners of the 2014 version were Tamil Nadu, in both the boys’ and girls’ categories, while the first runners up position was secured by the boys’ and girls’ teams from Kerala. The third place winner in the boys’ category last year was the team from Haryana. In the girls’ category, the third place winner last year was Karnataka.

This year’s tournament is being held on two outdoor courts at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. KARP Impex Group, involved in the business of diamond polishing, crafting and sale and based out of Surat, Gujarat, is the title sponsor for the event. Other sponsors include Sports Authority of Gujarat, Sheetal Group, Acrysil Limited, Madhu Silica, HVK, Rudra TMX, Mono TMT Bar, Leela Worldwide, Maruti Metal Industries, Priya Blue Industries Private Limited, NavyugPharma Chemical Private Limited, NBM – Iron and Steel Trading Private Limited and Kiran Diamonds.