Income Tax and Southern Railway win 2015 All India Jeppiaar Basketball Trophy

Several of the top club teams in India headed down south to Chennai to take part in the fifth installment of the Jeppiaar Trophy All India Invitational Tournament, a championship that brought together 11 teams in the Men's and Women's divisions to the Jeppiaar Institute of Technology (JIT) in the city. After six days of basketball featuring some of the best present and future stars in the country, Income Tax (Men) and repeating title winners Southern Railway (Women) ended the tournament as champions after the final day on Saturday, March 14.

The participating teams at the 2015 Jeppiaar Trophy were:

Men

Pool A: Vijaya Bank, KSEB, Sathyabama University, Income Tax.
Pool B: Indian Army, Air Force, JIT.

Women: Southern Railway, JIT, South Central Railway, South Eastern Railway

In the Men's final, Income Tax defeated Vijaya Bank 67-59. Income Tax's Vinay Kaushik scored 22 points in the final for his team's victory and was named the Player of the tournament. The Women's tournament was only held in round-robin fashion in the group stage. Southern Railway finished undefeated in the Women's group and were thus named champions, with South Central Railway and South Eastern Railway finishing second and third respectively.

The last iteration of this tournament was held back in 2013, with IOB (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) emerging as winners.

Before the tournament, JIT created a preview video about the tournament and the Men's and Women's home teams. You can check it out here.

IOB & Southern Railway defend Jeppiaar title in Chennai

For the second consecutive year, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and Southern Railway won the Jeppiaar All India Basketball Tournament in their home city of Chennai. The invitational tournament, which is a prestigious club competition in India and recently concluded it's 4th edition, was organized by the JIT Institute of Technology Basketball Club and held from May 26-31 at the college grounds near Sriperumpudur.

Southern Railway - led by India's legendary center Geethu Anna Jose - defeated Western Railway 62-49 in the Women's final on Friday after leading by six at halftime. Jose had 24 points in the game and S. Kokila added 19. Earlier on the same day, Chhattisgarh Women defeated Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) 53-48 behind 26 points by Swaranjeet Kaur to win third place.

The Men's final was a rematch of last year's finale between IOB and ONGC, and once again, the result was the same. IOB held on to a 10 point lead at halftime and continued their dominance in the second half to close in on a 59-45 win. IOB's Vineeth Ravi Mathew had 19 points. Indian Army beat Indian Navy 66-55 to finish third in the tournament; Sridhar had 18 points for Army.

In the Men's semi-finals earlier, ONGC had gotten through by defeating Indian Army 68-55. Legendary guard Riyazuddin had 25 points in a throwback performance for ONGC while Sridhar fought back with 18 for Army. In the other Men's semi, IOB blew by Indian Navy 54-34.

JIT's Shashant Rai (Men) and Chhattisgarh's Swaranjeet Kaur (Women) were named the Most Valuable Players of the tournament.

4th Jeppiaar Basketball Tournament begins in Chennai today

Home town squads Southern Railway and IOB will be out to defend their crown against some of India's top clubs at the 4th Annual Jeppiaar All India Invitational Basketball Tournament for Men and Women in Chennai. A respected club basketball tournament, the Jeppiaar tournament is organized by the JIT Institute of Technology Basketball Club and will be held from May 26-31 at the college grounds near Sriperumpudur.

Elite teams from across the country will vie for honours for AP Baulraj Trophy for Men and Marcella Rolling Trophy for Women, along with grand cash prizes. Ten Men's teams and five Women's teams will take part:

Men: IOB (Chennai), Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Income Tax, Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, ONGC, Punjab Police, KSEB, Sathyabama University.

Women: Central Railway, Western Railway, Southern Railway, KSEB, Chhattisgarh.