43rd Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship to tip off in Hyderabad on Saturday

Telangana might be India's "newest" state politically, but the region, as part of Andhra Pradesh has long been one of simmering hotbeds of Indian basketball. Now, the relatively-new Telangana Basketball Association (TBA) get a chance to showcase their refreshed strength: tipping off on Saturday, October 1, the TBA and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) will host the 43rd Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls in Hyderabad. The week-long tournament will be held at the Sports Authority of Telangana (SATS) Indoor Stadium in Saroornagar until October 7th.

The Sub-Junior Nationals, sponsored this year by Arise Steel are India's youngest ational basketball tournament and are popularly referred to as the "Minis". Featuring players of the under-14 age group, this year a total of 47 combined teams in both the boys' and girls' divisions representing states from all over India will be taking part.

This will be the first National level basketball tournament in Hyderabad in 13 years. As many as 22 matches per day will be played on a league cum knockout basis inside the two indoor courts within the stadium complex. While the Championship will tip off on the morning of 1st October itself, the opening ceremony will be held later in the afternoon from 4 pm onwards. Bandaru Dattatraya, Union Minister for Labour and Employment will be the chief guest of the occasion. Other guests of honour will be G Kishan Reddy (MLA and Floor Leader, BJLP Telangana), A Dinakar Babu (IAS, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Sports Authority of Telangana) and Aadhav Arjuna, Managing Director, Arise Industries and Agency Private Ltd.

Madhya Pradesh (Boys) and Chhattisgarh (Girls) are the defending champions of this tournament from the 42nd edition held in Puducherry earlier this February. Other teams to watch out for this year will include Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh in the boys' division while Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra among the girls. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, states that share Hyderabad as their capital, will be looking for home support to propel themselves higher this week.

Participating teams in the 43rd Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship

Boys

• Group A: Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala
• Group B: Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka
• Group C: Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir
• Group D: West Bengal, Gujarat, Jharkhand
• Group E: Punjab, Goa, Puducherry, Uttarakhand
• Group F: Bihar, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana

Girls

• Group A: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan
• Group B: Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana
• Group C: Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh
• Group D: West Bengal, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir
• Group E: Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand
• Group F: Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand

You can find the full schedule of games along with technical information via the Basketball Federation of India here.

One unique rule only for the Sub-Junior level is that no player can play for more than three quarters in a game, and 10 out of 12 members in each team must play for at least 10 minutes in each match. This rule is to ensure competitive exposure to maximum number of players.

"I would like to thank our title sponsors Arise Steel for making this event possible, and for their continued patronage towards Indian basketball. The stadium is fully ready and we have arranged for accommodation, travel and food for all the participating teams and officials," said Mr Norman Isaac, BFI executive committee member and General Secretary of the TBA.