ONGC (Men) and Chhattisgarh (Women) win 10th Savio Cup in Mumbai

Continuing the momentum gained from winning India's biggest domestic basketball tournament - the Senior Nationals in Rajasthan - players for Chhattisgarh (Women) and ONGC (Men ) rose above their opponents to be crowned champions at the 10th Savio Cup invitational basketball tournament in Mumbai. One of the top club/state basketball championships in India, this year's Savio Cup was once again held at the Don Boscho school in Matunga from January 11-18. The Women's and Men's finals were held in front of an eager, hoops-loving crowd on Sunday, January 18th.

ONGC - the Men's club side featuring several of the same players who won the Senior National Championship in Bhilwara (Rajasthan) a few weeks ago - returned to the Savio Cup as the reigning champs with hopes to lift the title again. In the tournament's finale, ONGC faced their familiar rivals IOB (Chennai), whom they had defeated in the final last year as well as trumped over earlier in this year's tournament. With tournament MVP Vishesh Bhriguvanshi leading the way, ONGC once again got the better of their foes. ONGC started with a 19-5 run in the first quarter and held on to their advantage till the end for a 63-53 victory.

The women's final brought out the top stars in the country in a clash of 2014 Savio Cup winners Southern Railway and the winners of the last two Senior National Championships, Chhattisgarh. Railway started the game on top, racing up to a 33-29 lead. But Chhattisgarh bounced back with a strong performance in the third quarter to go up by five before the start of the final period. The gold remained in touching distance for both squads, but it was eventually Chhattisgarh who provided another clutch performance to stamp their mark over Indian Women's hoops with a title-clinching, 71-63 victory.

Sponsored by United Phosphorous and Tridhaatu Realty Infrastructure, this year's Savio Cup featured seven Men's teams and four Women's teams.

On several days at the tournament, Arts-based therapy practioneer Gayatree Joshi held relaxation therapy sessions for the participating players.

10th Savio Cup - one of India's top national tournaments - tips off in Mumbai tomorrow

As it is usually the tradition in the early Indian basketball calender, rivalries that are born at the Senior Nationals are settled just a few days later, when India's best players meet again in Mumbai at the Savio Cup. Now entering it's 10th edition, the Savio Cup is one of India's top national invitational tournaments, where the most stacked club and state/unit teams compete for the prestigious title. This year's Savio Cup will tip off tomorrow, Sunday January 11th with seven Men's and four Women's teams. Sponsored by United Phosphorous and Tridhaatu Realty Infrastructure, the tournament will be held at the Don Bosco School's basketball courts in Matunga with the finals on January 18th.

ONGC - the Men's club side featuring several of the same players who won the Senior National Championship in Bhilwara (Rajasthan) a few days ago - will return to the Savio Cup as the reigning champs with hopes to lift the title again. In the Women's division, Southern Railway will look to continue their dominance at this tournament after winning gold the past four years. National and international stars like Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Amrit Pal Singh, Riyazuddin and Yadwinder Singh, Amjyot Singh, Anitha Pauldurai, Anju Lakra, and many more will be in action through the course of the next week.

Savio Cup 10 participating teams

• Men: ONGC, Indian Railways, Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank (Chennai), Punjab, Services, Bhavnagar Youngsters.
  
• Women: Southern Railway, Punjab, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh.
  

ONGC (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) win 9th Savio Cup in Mumbai

Although they started as favourites to hold on to their title, Southern Railway had to battle till the very end and use every bit of their talent and experience to outlast the spirited hosts Maharashtra in the Women's final of the 9th Savio Cup on Saturday, January 18th, at the Don Bosco High School in Mathunga, Mumbai. Familiar foes ONGC and IOB met in the Men's title game, with ONGC continuing their hot stretch in recent tournaments to add another trophy to their glittering cabinet.

Photo Courtesy: Ekalavyas.com

The 9th Savio Cup tipped off in Mumbai on January 11th, featuring participation by seven Men's and four Women's squads. The tournament was sponsored by Tridhaatu Realty and Indian Oil.

Southern Railway were playing without superstar Geethu Anna Jose and hadn't been their usual convincing selves, after already dropping a game to their final opponents Maharashtra earlier in the tournament. Maharashtra on the other hand have been enjoying a string of relative success in their Women's division. In the Final, Maharashtra - led by Manisha Dange - wanted to stamp in their authority and a dominant first half saw them go into the break with a 33-19 lead. Southern Railway fought back in the third period, and a back-to-back fourth quarter finally saw them take the lead in the game's last minutes. Southern Railway inched ahead to survive for a 67-62 victory behind 19 points by Apoorva Murlinath. Dange had 30 for Maharashtra in a losing effort.

ONGC (Uttarakhand) were back in the Final after losing to American side Sportspower USA in the previous edition of the tournament. With Chennai's IOB starting off on the right foot, it seemed like ONGC would face a final defeat once again. But they fought back to take a halftime lead, and then completely dominate proceedings in the game's second half en route to a 70-52 victory. Veterans Trideep Rai (22) and Yadwinder Singh (19) were the game's leading scorers.

Photo Courtesy: Ekalavyas.com

The Men's winning side were rewarded Rs. 1.5 lakhs and the runners-up were given Rs. 65,000. For Women, the winning side was given Rs. 50,000 and runners-up Rs. 25,000.

Sportspower returned this year without the former NBA players who helped them lift the title last year. Their roster was short this year, so two Indian players - Vinay Kaushik and Prakash Mishra - were added to the team. Ex-NBA player David Wood was supposed to be a part of the team but didn't make it. Jahaziel Howard - the younger brother of NBA star Dwight Howard - came to Mumbai as part of Sportspower's roster.

Savio Cup 9 to tip off in Mumbai today

One of the most prestigious basketball tournaments in India - the Savio Cup is set to return for it's ninth edition at the Don Bosco High School in Matunga, Mumbai from Saturday, January 11th. The tournament will feature seven teams in the Men's edition and four Women squads. American basketball outfit Sportspower will return to defend their title from last year, while women's champions Southern Railway will once again start as favourites in their division.

Savio Cup 8 featured Sportspower for the first time, a team that included three former NBA players: Jerome Williams, Anthony Bonner, and Paul Grant. Sportspower defeated ONGC in the finale, while the Women's title was decided with Southern Railway's victory over host side Maharashtra.

Savio Cup 9 participating teams:

Men: Sportspower USA, ONGC, IOB, Income Tax, Punjab, Services Maharashtra.
Women: Southern Railway, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Kerala.

ONGC (Uttarakhand) and Chhattisgarh will be looking to carry over some positive momentum after their victory at the Federation Cup in Ahmedabad earlier this week.

The tournament will conclude with finals on Saturday, January 18th.

BFI announces India's Senior basketball team probables for Lusofonia Games

Because there is some historical Portuguese influence - particularly in the state of Goa - India is an associate member of the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking countries). Together with other nations of the CCLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) like Portugal, Brazil, and many more. Every few years, the ACOLOP (Associação dos Comités Olímpicos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa) holds the Lusofonia Games. This year, the 3rd Lusofonia Games, are scheduled to be held in Goa from January 18-29th.

12 countries from four continents will take part in nine different sports. One of them is basketball, and the hoops tournament at the Games will be held from January 23-27.

The Games were originally planned to be held in 2013, but was postponed and moved to January 2014 dates.

The countries participating in the Lusofonia Games are: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Macau (China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea, India, and Sri Lanka.

India, as hosts, will be looking to defend their home turf in both the Men's and Women's divisions in the basketball tournament at the Games. In preparation, the BFI has announced 17 probables for each team to undergo a training camp from January 10-18 at the Don Bosco Matunga in Mumbai. Several names announced in the list of probables were Goan, leading to the BFI denying allegations of a Goan quota for the final teams. The popular Savio Cup basketball tournament will also be taking part at the venue during this time, so a lot of probables will also be actively participating and gaining exposure in one of India's most prestigious club championships.

India's foreign coaches Scott Flemming (Men) and Francisco Garcia (Women) will be leading the two squads. Indian international star Divya Singh will be playing the role of Assistant Coach for the Women's team this time. Women's superstars Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai haven't been selected for this camp, probably to rest them and give an opportunity to younger Women's stars.

Here are India's probables for the Lusofonia Games Basketball Tournament:

Men

• Amjyot Singh (IOB/Tamil Nadu)
  
• Amrit Pal Singh (ONGC)
  
• Riken Pethani (IOB/Tamil Nadu)
  
• Joginder Singh (Services)
  
• Pratham Singh (IOB/Tamil Nadu)
  
• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (ONGC)
  
• Yadwinder Singh (ONGC)
  
• Narender Grewal (Services)
  
• Palpreet Singh (Punjab)
  
• Sambhaji Kadam (Services)
  
• Vinay Kaushik (Delhi)
  
• Prakash Mishra (Railways)
  
• Loveneet Singh (Punjab)
  
• Basil Philip (Kerala)
  
• Daley Fernandes (Goa)
  
• Lambart Godiho (Goa)
  
• Amish Jain (Goa) - Stand-by
  
• Head Coach: Scott Flemming
  
• Coach: Prasad Rama Linga
  

Women

• Poonam Chaturvedi (Chhattisgarh)
• Rajapriyadarshini Rajaganapathi (Railways/Tamil Nadu)
• Stefy Nixon (Kerala)
• Jeena PS (Kerala) 
• Smruthi Radhakrishman (Railways) 
• Poojamol KS (Kerala) 
• Neenumol PS (Kerala) 
• Sharanjeet Kaur (Chhattisgarh) 
• Priti Kumari (Madhya Pradesh) 
• Ishwari Pingle (Tamil Nadu) 
• Shireen Limaye (Maharashtra) 
• Sangeeta Kaur (Chhattisgarh) 
• Anjana PG (Kerala) 
• Madhu Kumari (Delhi) 
• Nelvie Mendes (Goa) 
• Kezia Fernandes (Goa) 
• Michelle (Goa) - Stand-by
• Head Coach: Francisco Garcia
  
• Coach: Divya Singh
  

Outside of Brazil (who will probably not sent a strong team for this) and perhaps Macau, there isn't likely to be any other big challenge to India in the basketball tournament, so the Young Cagers could seriously be aiming for a medal finish.

The other sports at the Lusofonia games in Goa are Athletics, Football, Judo, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Beach Volleyball, and Wushu. Also, if you're into that sort of thing, the mascot for the Lusofonia Games in Goa is 'JOJO The Majestic Rooster'. Yup.

Alvida Bosh: A Bosh-tastic trip comes to an end in India

Can you believe that it only lasted four days? Less than a month after winning his second consecutive championship with the Miami Heat, eight-time NBA All Star Chris Bosh came to India for the first time on July 16, spending four very productive days in Mumbai. Dozens of NBA players, WNBA players, or former stars of the game have already visited India in the past, a list that included All Stars like Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol in 2010, but Bosh's trip this year was by far the most engaging for NBA fans in India.

NBA India has existed for over half a dozen years already, already feature an India-centric website (with weekly features by yours truly), a hugely popular Facebook page, a brand new office in Mumbai, dedicated staff that travel around the nation preaching the gospel of hoops, and a plethora of different annual events around India including grassroots leagues and fan interaction festivals to promote both basketball and the NBA. But they made their biggest splash - promotion-wise - with the Bosh visit, and have perhaps been able to truly expand their fan-base beyond the niche hardcore hoop-heads to the larger mainstream populace of India.

Bosh, known back in his homeland for being one of the league's great big men, the third star in the NBA's most successful team, and a world champion photo-bomber, brought his energy to Mumbai for four jam-packed days. Here is a selected recap of his Bost-tastic trip, as he left India last night:

- Before Bosh showed up, NBA India and their broadcast partners Sony SIX ran the ingenius '#NamasteBosh' campaign on Facebook/Twitter and on the TV channel, to get fans hyped up and create a competition where the fans with the best greetings to Bosh would get to meet him in Mumbai.

- Then, Sony SIX created one of the greatest things ever with the #NamasteBosh Hinglish rap song. "Namaste Bosh... Namaste India..." has been stuck in my head for days.

- Bosh finally showed up in Mumbai with his wife and got to work/tour on July 16th. He toured several sites across Mumbai, including the Dhobi Ghat at Cuffe Parade and the famous Gateway of India.

- Oh, and he brought along a replica of the Larry O'Brien Championship trophy with him, too.

- Bosh tried some Indian food and had his fortune told by a palm reader.

- He also headed out to Mumbai's famous Times of India office building where he served as a guest editor in TOI's Sports Page for the next day (remember that two years ago the NBA announced a digital partnership with the TOI group) and answered questions in a fascinating, detailed interview about the NBA Finals, on LeBron James, on Heat fans, and on basketball in India.

- He launched NBA-India's Instagram page.

- Day 2 was a chance for the Indian media to interact with Bosh in lengthy one-on-one interviews, where he spoke about how Indian Basketball is growing every year, how basketball can make space for itself in India despite cricket being number one, and about introducing the element of fun when promoting hoops to the Indian audience.

- Bosh also announced the new season of the NBA Jam - a basketball and music festival - in four Indian cities, which will be held through September.

- And by the end of the day, he ended up socializing with some fringe Bollywood types, including Dino Morea. And this was all just Day 2.

- On Day 3, Bosh quit all the touring and talking about basketball and got down to basketball itself. This was the day that he first held an Elite Development Basketball Basketball Clinic with up-and-coming young players of the country.

- This clinic was held with NBA Cares event at the Magic Bus camp, an NGO dedicated to mentoring less-fortunate children, who have been involved with NBA Cares for the past few years in Mumbai. Bosh shared some of his basic knowledge and basketball drills with the kids of Magic Bus, too.

- At the Don Bosco School in Mathunga, fans from the city were given a chance to drop in and have a chance to meet Bosh.

- On this day, Bosh also made an appearance at Radio One Mumbai for a chat with RJ Rishi K. The interview aired the next morning on Radio One.

- July 19th was his last day in the country. NBA India had asked their fans on Facebook to send questions for the big man. On this day, my NBA-India co-blogger Akshay Manwani sat down with Bosh for an interview where he also passed on many of the fans' questions.

- Later, made a visit to the Wilson College in Mumbai to tip off their annual festival (Polaris), where he interacted with students and gave away some of those awesome '#NamasteBosh' T-shirts.

- And so, his trip came to an end on Day 4. Of course, fans across the country would've wanted Bosh to visit other cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and more, too. While Bosh couldn't see any of India outside of Mumbai, those in India's largest city got a heavy dose of the NBA star, as he was basically everywhere, and talked about basically everything.

India gave a pretty memorable greeting to Bosh, so this particular 'Namaste' would be remembered forever by both sides. Now, it's time for us to say 'Alvida' to the big man, but since Kishore Kumar taught us never to use that word, maybe we should say 'Phir Milenge' Bosh. Come visit India again. And bring along a couple of your famous friends next time, too.

Savio Cup 8 ends with Sportspower (Men), Southern Railway (Women), & Savio Club (U20 Men) celebrating victory

The Savio Cup – one of India’s most popular and well-respected club basketball tournaments – ended its eighth edition on Sunday, December 9th, at the Don Bosco School in Mathunga, Mumbai. After eight days of exciting action, the Finals were played out in front of an excited capacity crowd that watched Women’s side Southern Railway won the tournament for the fifth consecutive year by beating hosts Maharashtra in the Final. In the Men’s Final, first-time participants Sportspower from the USA – featuring three former NBA players – defeated reigning champions ONGC to lift the trophy.

Click here to read full review.

ONGC Men & Southern Railway Women cruise to easy final wins at the 7th Savio Cup

It is famous for being one of the most competitive and exciting basketball tournaments in the country, and judging by the quality of the Men's games thus far, it seemed that the final encounter at the 7th Savio Cup All India Basketball Tournament at Don Bosco, Matunga, Mumbai, was going to be an epic encounter between two sides in peak form. But the night belonged to the stacked ONGC outfit, who showed no mercy versus National Champions Punjab and clinically finished off their opponents for a 61-42 victory on Sunday.

In the Women's final, last year's winners Southern Railway showed no mercy on Chhattisgarh's South East Central Railway (SECR) - presumably their toughest competition in the tournament - as they headed for a comfortable 86-49 win.

The triumph for ONGC and Southern Railway came only about a week after both had won the Men's and Women's competition at Athirampuzha JCI Tournament in Kerala.

The 7th edition of the Savio Cup was held from January 8-15, 2012. The Men's final featured ONGC and Punjab, two teams with the most number of recognisable faces of Indian Men's Basketball today. With the addition of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Yadwinder Singh from Railways - two players who were barred from taking part in the Senior Nationals last month - ONGC strengthened their squad that already featured Trideep Rai, Riyazuddin, Anoop, and other stars. Vishesh and Yadwinder had been an integral part of the Railways side which had lifted the Savio Cup a year ago: the two stars celebrated Savio Cup victory once again but in different colours.

ONGC carried out their game-plan and played efficient offense in the Final against a strong Punjab side, which featured India's current internationals like TJ Sahi, Jagdeep Singh Bains, Amjyot Singh, and Amrit Pal Singh. Punjab had a bad shooting night, and ONGC took advantage to dominate the game and win 61-42.

In the Women's final, it was a similar story as Southern Railway - led by Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai - lifted yet another trophy. This was the third trophy for the duo and other Railway players who had won the National Championship in Tamil Nadu, the Athirampuzha championship in Kerala, and now, the Savio Cup in Maharashtra.

The Men's division featured several tough teams this year, including the competitive IOB side, who lost to Punjab in the 'Semi Final League' stage. American side 'Shooting For Success' once again brought star-studded players and highlight plays to the Matunga courts, but were a disappointment this year as they failed to repeat their Finals performance from 2011 and lost several of their games.

A Slam Dunk competition was also held at the tournament, where American player Terry Fields of 'Shooting For Success' defeated Punjab's TJ Sahi for the title.

7th Savio Cup tips off in Mumbai!

One of Mumbai's most respected and loved basketball tournaments returns: the 7th edition of the Savio Cup All India Basketball Tournament will be held at the Don Bosco High School in Matunga, Mumbai, from January 8-15, 2012. Once again, some of the best Men's and Women's club teams from around India - plus the now-regular American side 'Shooting For Success' - will take part in the tournament.

Six Men's teams and three Women's teams will take part in the competition, tipped off at 4 PM on Sunday, Jan 8th, with a Men's clash between hosts Maharashtra and the recent winners of the Senior National Basketball Championship, Punjab.

The inauguration ceremony was held at 6 PM on Sunday.

Fr. Bosco D'Mello, the Principal of the Don Bosco School said, "The Savio Cup Basketball tournament for Men and Women is back to enthrall and entertain us in 7th year in succession. It has been growing in reputation and stature year after year and this year in its 7th edition it promises to get even bigger."

The teams participating in the Savio Cup this year are:

Men: Punjab, Indian Railways, Services, Maharashtra, ONGC, Shooting For Success
Women: Southern Railway, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra

Railways were the team to beat last year in both the divisions: the Men's side defeated Shooting For Success in a classic final game, while Southern Railway Women also got their stiffest challenge in the final game against Chhattisgarh.

Shooting For Success, a San Antonio (USA) based basketball club and foundation, will be participating for the fifth consecutive year in the Savio Cup, and they have become one of the favourites of the locals for boasting their athletic lineup of stars. This team will be led once again by their point guard and leader David "DJ" Jones. This year, a new addition to the side will be 6'10" big man Timir Patel, an Indian-origin basketball player from Texas who has played at the highest level of college ball in the US as well as trying his skills in several different countries around the world.

Every year, the Savio Cup also features an exciting slam dunk contest: here is a short video of last year's dunk contest to whet your appetite for the 2012 Savio Cup!

Indian Railways and Southern Railway win Savio Cup 6

In an exciting finale to eight days of mesmerising basketball at the Don Bosco–Matunga in Mumbai, Southern Railway (Women) and Indian Railways (Men) pulled off impressive victories to hoist the sixth edition of the United Phosphorous Limited (UPL) All India Savio Cup on Sunday, January 30th. Southern Railway relied on the talents of legendary Geethu Anna Jose to help beat Chhattisgarh in the Women’s final, 76-66. In the Men’s game, National Champions Indian Railways rallied behind an explosive game by Vishesh Bhriguvanshi as they pulled an improbable 91-79 upset over the strong American side, Shooting For Success (SFS).

For his consistent dominance throughout the competition, Bhriguvanshi was named player of the tournament. Anju Lakra, the Chhattisgarh captain, took the honour in the Women’s division.

In a tournament that has been gathering momentum and fan-following over the past few years, the Savio Cup 6 featured six Men’s teams (Indian Railways, SFS, IOB Chennai, Services, Punjab, Maharashtra) and four Women’s teams (Southern Railway, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka) who played in a league system from January 23-29th, with the final held on January 30th.

Trailing at the end of the first quarter in the Women’s final, Geethu, Anitha P., Renjini Peter, and the rest of the Southern Railway squad began to turn the game around against Chhattisgarh. Geethu led the game with 29 points while Anitha and Peter added 16 each for Railway as they won by 10 points. For Chhattisgarh, star players Pushpa M (27) and Anju Lakra (20) shined in the final.

Undefeated thus far, American side SFS were strong favourites to win the Men’s final as they faced the Indian Railways side who had won the National Championship in New Delhi a few weeks ago. Instead, Railways kept the game close in a face-paced, back-and-forth match-up. Trailing by two at the end of the third quarter, Railways played their strongest basketball behind Vishesh 33), Yadiwinder Singh (20) and Gagandeep Singh (16) to stand as 91-79 winners. Terry Fields (29) was the high man for SFS.

The winning teams in both divisions were rewarded Rs. 50,000 and the runners-up with Rs. 25,000.

A dunk competition was also held on the penultimate day of the Savio Cup, which was won by Terry Fields of SFS. Amjyot Singh (Punjab) and Anwar Ferguson (SFS) finished second and third respectively.

Final Scores

Women: Southern Railway 76 (Geethu Anna Jose 29, Renjini Peter 16, Anitha P. 16) bt. Chhattisgarh 66 (Pushpa M. 27, Anju Lakra 20).

Men: Indian Railways 91 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 33, Yadiwinder Singh 20, Gagandeep Singh 16) bt. Shooting For Success 79 (Terry Fields 29, David Jones 13).

Best Players Awards

Women: Anju Lakra (Chhattisgarh).

Men: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Indian Railways).

6th UPL All India Savio Cup to tip off in Mumbai

Mumbai’s basketball lovers are in for a feast of high quality basketball, as India's leading male and female hoopsters - along with a team from the United States of America 'Shooting for Success' - will be vying for top honours in the 6th Edition of the UPL All India Savio Cup-Don Bosco Basketball Tournament, held from 23rd January 2011 to 30th January 2011. The tournament will be held at Don Bosco High School (Matunga) and will be sponsored by United Phosphorous Ltd and Co-sponsored by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

The tournament, which has become one of the leading basketball competitions in the country, will feature six teams in the Men’s and four teams in the Women’s divisions.

Father Bosco D’Mello, Organizing Secretary of the tournament said, “The Savio Cup is a brilliant effort of teamwork. Diehard fans of the sport of basketball (both young and not so young) coming together to give a boost to the game of basketball, both to popularize it and take it to great heights by bringing together the best players both of Indian origin and overseas. You have got to be there to live the experience."

Participating Teams

Men: Services, IOB Chennai, Indian Railways, Punjab, Maharashtra, Shooting for Success (San Antonio, Texas, USA).

Women: Southern Railway, South East Central Railway, Karnataka, Maharashtra.

Some of the star players featuring in the tournament will include Shambaji Kadam, Dilip Kumar, Vishesh Bruguvanshi, Talwinder Singh, Mihir Pandey, Jagdeep, Yadwinder Singh, Harish, Geetu Anna Jose, Anita Pauldurai, Bharati Netam, Anju Lakra, Shirin Limaye, Sneha Rajguru, Amrita Baskute, Seema Singh, and others.

A highlight of this year’s tournament is the special felicitation function planned for the Administrators, Referees, Players and Journalists of yesteryear who had made significant contributions to the game of Basketball.

The tournament's organisers are doing a vigorous job in promoting the event. Savio Cup updates can be found on its Facebook page, on Twitter, and the organisers will also be sending SMS updates to fans who wish to submit their number for information.

The men and women will play a round robin league, with the top two teams going on to play the final. The men’s winners stand to gain Rs. 1 lakh, while the runners-up teams will take home Rs. 50,000. The women’s winners will take home Rs. 50,000 with the runner-up teams standing to gain Rs. 25,000. There will be prizes for every match as well as for individual brilliance.

Also planned are a ‘dunking competition’ and a ‘three-point shooting competition’.

The matches will be played on the Terra Flex surface with the use of Electronic Scoreboards and 24-second devices, in specially erected stadium to seat approx. 2000 spectators.

Three matches are expected to be played every day and they will be officiated by International referees, from different states, including three from Maharashtra.

SABAL preseason held at Don Bosco School

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Gearing up for a summer of basketball? Well, a lot went down at the Don Bosco School in Tumkur (near Bangalore) last week, when Subhash Mahajan of the Sumpoorna grassroots basketball movement continued to involve young kids into basketball with a pre-season tournament of the Sumpoorna Annual Basketball League (SABAL) from 19-21 May.

Around 60 kids, under the age of 15, participated in the games, and they were divided into 12 teams to match the 12 seasons of a year - January to December... The kids were allowed to scrimmage during the first two days of the camp, and then were divided into well-balanced teams. Students from the Sumpoorna Basketball campus in Tumkur played alongside students of the Don Bosco School.

"It was nice to see that even the students who didn't have the basic knowledge of basketball learnt quickly from the others and subconsciously copied them," said Mahajan, "It became easy to get through rules and violations to them, like travel, illegal screens, or different kinds of fouls."

"We have good relationship with Don Bosco, and we want to make more relations with other schools around the region for more basketball," Mahajan added. "At Don Bosco, they lack coaches, and we wanted to embed our players and coaching with those players."

The full season of SABAL begins in about a month, the 26th of June. Mahajan is looking to glamourise the event by involving corporate sponsorships and to provide uniforms to the children.

"We are hoping to form a network of over a 100 schools by the end of the season."

The Sumpoorna Basketball School is a basketball movement in South India hoping to popularise basketball and teach basic skills to younger children. Mahajan, its founder, has always believed that the best way to make the game approachable for children (and parents) who are averse to sports and basketball specifically is to create a relaxed environment in the game.

Sumpoorna has been slowly growing in small, rural town of Tumkur over the past five years. Driven by a lifelong love of basketball, Mahajan has set up this basketball camp mostly for small town and village youth, which has grown over the years to have taught basketball basics to up to 6,000 youngsters around the rural area, and launched the Sumpoorna Basketball Tournament where dozens of small school and recreational teams compete against each other.

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