Indian Bank win 2019 PSG Trophy in Coimbatore

It was the second basketball trip this year for the Indian Bank side to Coimbatore. And for the second time, the journey ended with victory.

After securing the 54th Nachimuthu Gounder Cup in Coimbatore earlier this year, Indian Bank (Chennai) returned to the city in Tamil Nadu and bagged first place in the 2019 PSG Trophy on Tuesday, August 13 at the PSG Sports Club. The prestigious invitational basketball tournament was held between eight teams from around the country from August 9-13, 2019.

Indian Bank secured the title win a 79-61 victory over Indian Army (Delhi) in the final on Tuesday. Hari Ram of Indian Bank scored 29 points to lead his squad to the win.

KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) defeated Indian Air Force (Delhi) 76-73 and secured third place, led by Jishnu G Nair 19. Ajay Hooda scored 19 for Air Force in the loss.

Eight teams took part in this five-day event: Indian Bank (Chennai), Indian Army (Delhi), Indian Air Force (Delhi), KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram), RCF (Kapurthala), Indian Navy (Lonavala), Customs (Chennai), and last year's winners, Income Tax (Chennai).

Hari Ram of Indian Bank was rewarded the tournament's Best Player award.

PSG Institutions Managing Trustee L. Gopalakrishnan presided the prize giving ceremony and City police commissioner Sumit Sharan gave away the prizes. The winning team earned Rs. 1 lakh, the runners-up Rs. 50,000, and third place received Rs. 25,000.

Indian Bank (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) win 2019 All India Basketball Tournaments in Coimbatore

Two of the most prestigious invitational basketball in India came to a conclusion on Saturday after six days of high-level hoops action in Coimbatore. Indian Bank (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) won the 54th Nachimuthu Gounder Cup and 18th CRI Pumps Trophy respectively after a couple of close finals. The tournament was held from May 27 - June 1 by the Coimbatore District Basketball Association (CDBA) at the VOC Park Basketball Court.

Indian Bank from Chennai defeated Income Tax in the finale 74-64 to secure the gold medal.

In the women’s category Southern Railway (Hubli) managed to maintain the lead from the beginning over South Central Railway and won the match and trophy by two points 57-55.

India Army defeated Indian Air Force 72-62 for third place in the men's division, while last year's women's champions KSEB finished third with a 46-33 win over Arise Steel.

There was Rs.1.85 lakh prize money and Cup for men and Rs.1 lakh and trophy for women’s teams. Customs (Chennai) and KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) won last year's iterations of the tournament.

Customs (Chennai) and KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) win 2018 All India Basketball Tournaments in Coimbatore

The five-day invitational basketball tournaments in Coimbatore - Nachimuthu Gounder Cup for Men and 17th CRI Pumps Trophy for Women - came to a conclusion on Thursday, May 31, with victories for Customs (Chennai) and KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) in the Men's and Women's tournaments respectively.

Top club teams from around India were invited for these prestigious tournaments, featuring eight Men's teams and and eight Women's teams. The tournaments were organised by the Coimbatore District Basketball Association (CBDA).

Customs beat Indian Railways 69-63 in the Men's final of this 53rd All-India Championship, led by Hari Ram (26).

In the women's section, KSEB beat Eastern Railway (Kolkata) 59-43 in the final.

South Central Railway (Women) and ONGC (Men) win 2016 All India Basketball Tournaments in Coimbatore

Continuing an annual tradition, two of India's top invitational club basketball tournaments were held in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, featuring top talent from across the country. The 15th CRI Pumps Trophy (Women) and the Nachibuthu Gounder Cup (Men) concluded at the VOC Park Corporation Sports Complex courts in Coimbatore on Wednesday, June 1, with South Central Railway (SCR) of Secunderabad and ONGC from Dehardun winning the Women's and Men's titles respectively.

In the Women's CRI Pumps Trophy final, SCR trailed for most of the way to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) team from Thiruvanathapuram, and had build up a double-digit cushion. But SCR staged a brilliant comeback behind a 28 point outburst by M. Gayathri to secure a late lead and clinch the 51-48 win.

In the Men's Nachibuthu Gounder Cup final, veteran leaders and young stars of India's international squad came together to overpower Chennai's Income Tax en route to a 78-55 win. ONGC's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi led all scorers in the final with 28, while Amrit Pal Singh - who plays for Tokyo Excellence of the Japanese D-League - scored 18. Trideep Rai added 17 to ONGC's offensive firepower. Rikin Pethani and Ramkumar both added 18 for Income Tax in the loss.

Tipping off on May 27th, the Nachibuthu Gounder Cup made a comeback to Coimbatore basketball after eight years, replacing the All India PSG Trophy. Eight leading Men's teams - ONGC, KSEB, Integral Coach Factory (Chennai), Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), Income Tax, North Frontier Railway (Guwahati), Kerala Police and Coimbatore District Basketball Association (CDBA) - vied for top honours.

The CRI Pumps Trophy for Women was held simultaneously, in which the reigning champions Chattisgarh, runners-up KSEB, Southern Railway, SCR, North Frontier Railway, South East Central Railway (Bilaspur), Central Railway (Mumbai), and CBDA took part.

Last year, Indian Army won the PSG All India trophy while Chhattisgarh secured the CRI Pumps title in Coimbatore.

KSEB Women and IOB Men win 2016 FEASTO All India Basketball Tournament in Kozhikode

Kerala's City of Spices Kozhikode - also known as Calicut - played host to some of the top basketball players in the nation over the past week as the FEASTO All India Basketball Tournament for Men and Women as the city's VK Krishnamenon Indoor Stadium from February 22-28. The championship, revived after a gap of 16 years, featured various top-level basketball clubs from around the region and other states. It was the Women's team from Thiruvanathapuram's Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and the Men's team from Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) in Chennai that emerged champions with resounding victories in their respective finals on Sunday, February 28.

In the Women's final, Kerala stars Stephy Nixon and Anjana PG scored 18 points apiece for KSEB to help them easily defeat the more experienced Southern Railway squad from Chennai, 71-52. Apporva Muralinath scored 18 for Southern Railway in the loss.

In the Men's final, IOB relied on the efforts of talented forward G. Sivabalan (18) to rush past Bengaluru's Vijaya Bank, 75-52. A. Aravind scored 19 for the losing side.

Prasanna Venkatesh of IOB and Anjana PG from KSEB won the Men's and Women's MVP awards respectively.

Income Tax (Chennai) win 2015 Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty Basketball Tournament in Bengaluru

For five days, eight of India's top basketball clubs and states gathered together in Bengaluru for the 2nd Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament, an invitational championship held at the city's Sri Kantaveera Stadium. Eventually, the tournament's finale pitted together Chennai's Income Tax and Dehradun's ONGC in a memorable clash. Income Tax's impressive first half effort set the tone for them, as they outlasted ONGC to win the final 70-56 and lift the winner's trophy.

Tipping off on October 7, the tournament was organized and sponsored by Vijaya Bank and held in the memory of the Late Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty, a longstanding former Chairman who was instrumental in the growth of the bank through the 60s and 70s. It was held under the auspices of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA).

ONGC were in the final of the tournament for the second consecutive year after finishing as runners-up in the tournament's debut a year ago. Despite having veteran international big names in the squad, ONGC were missing star Indian center Amrit Pal Singh (playing professionally in Japan) and had to contend with an injured Yadwinder Singh. Early in the game, a scuffle got Yadwinder, ONGC teammate Murali Krishan and Income Tax's Ravi Kumar all throw out of the game.

Income Tax made the most of their slight advantage by taking a huge early lead and stretching it out to 44-24 by halftime. Despite the best efforts of India captain and ONGC's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (24) in the second half, Income Tax did enough to keep their lead secure and win 70-56. Ram Kumar (22) and international big man Rikin Pethani (19) led the way for the winning side.

Income Tax's MA Raghuram was named the tournament's MVP while his teammate Ram Kumar was given the Most Promising Player award.

Earlier in the day, home team Vijaya Bank - led by Anil Kumar (26) and Arvind (19) - outlasted Thiruvanathapuram's Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in a highly competitive clash to win the bronze medal in the tournament. KSEB's Alvin Baby scored 32 points and helped his squad lead a charge back in the game's second half, but Vijaya Bank did just enough to win the game 65-61.

Final: Income Tax (Ram Kumar 22, Rikin Pethani 19) bt ONGC (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 24, Riyazuddin 14) 70-56 [20-10, 24-14, 17-19, 9-13].

Final Standings

• 1. Income Tax
  
• 2. ONGC
  
• 3. Vijaya Bank
  

Indian Army and Chhattisgarh win All India Basketball Tournaments in Coimbatore

Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu once again hosted its annual monsoon basketball fiesta, two All India invitational tournaments for Men and Women. On Saturday August 15, while the rest of India celebrated the 69th anniversary of Independence Day, the Indian Army men's basketball team hoisted the 51st All India Basketball PSG Trophy. In the women's tournament, Chhattisgarh emerged as winners of the 14th CRI Pumps Trophy.

The Indian Army Men's team, who hail from New Delhi, bounced back after finishing as runners-up last year to defeat home-state team IOB (Chennai) in the final on Saturday, 59-53. Gopalram was the high scorer for the Armymen with 17, while G Sivabalan dropped in a game-high 19 points in IOB's losing effort.

The women's final, a high-scoring affair, turned out to be a personal showcase for Chhattigarh's giant center Poonam Chaturvedi. The tallest women player in India, Chaturvedi scored 48 points to help Chhattisgarh outlast their opponents KSEB (Kerala) 84-78. Grima Merlin Varghese scored 19 points for the KSEB.

IOB (Men) and KSEB (Women) win 2015 JCI Basketball Tournament at Athirampuzha

In Athirampuzha (Kerala), the St Aloysius Flood-Lit Basketball Court hosted the 6th JCI All India Invitational Basketball Tournament, where the local state's Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) defeated Chennai's Southern Railway in the final to bring a title for the home fans. In the Men's final, Chennai's Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) won the final against Cochin's Customs and Central Excise.

In the Women's final, Thiruvanathapuram's KSEB fought in a neck-to-neck battle against Southern Railway, before surviving for a 55-50 win.

IOB's Aravind led with 17 points for IOB to completely dominate Customs and Central Excise in the Men's final, winning 62-30 in the end.

Kerala Women's Team was felicitated at the tournament for their maiden basketball title at the National Games earlier this month.

KSEB win 2014 Electricity Board Men's Basketball Tournament in Thiruvanathapuram

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) defended their home city of Thiruvanathapuram to lift the trophy at the 39th All India Electricity Sports Control Board Basketball Tournament for Men on Saturday, March 29th. The four day tournament was held at the Pattom, Vyduthi Bhavan Basketball court in Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala and brought together the best basketball teams from various electricity/power corporations around the country.

The Final was held between KSEB and the tournament's defending champions, the Punjab State Power Corporation. Albin Baby of KSEB erupted for a game high 37 points to ensure that his side maintained a commanding lead en route to their 93-76 victory. Ajeeth Sugunan chipped in with 20 points. Harprith Singh scored a team-high 19 points for the Punjabi squad.

KSEB employees who represented India at the national sports stage in the past year were honoured at halftime during the final, including basketball stars such as Jenna PS and Stephy Nixon.

Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company won the bronze medal as Sivakumar scored 31 points to lead them for an easy 69-45 victory over the Haryana Power Sports Group. Sonu Malik scored 30 for the losing side.

IOB & South Western Railway win 1st Midhun Markose All India Basketball Tournament in Thiruvanathapuram

IOB (Chennai) Men and South Western Railway (Hubli) Women won their respective Finals matchups and took home the trophy at the end of the 1st Midhun Markose TDBA All India Basketball Tournament, held in Thiruvanathapuram (Kerala) from August 4-9. The finals were held on Friday, August 9 at the Central Stadium in the city.

The Men's final was a close contest as Vijaya Bank (Bangalore) led IOB 32-29 at halftime, but IOB made a comeback in the second half behind 19 points by A. Aravind to win 68-63. Vijaya Bank had their own Aravind who added 21 points in a losing cause.

In the Women's final, the eventual winners found themselves in a similar predicament midway. Hubli's South Western Railway trailed 28-19 at halftime to KSEB, but turned the score around in a thrilling finish to inch away to a 63-60 win. Savitha LS scored 24 points for the winning side eclipsing 19 points by KSEB's Merlin Baby.

Actress Gouthami Nair and international footballer Joe Paul Archery were amongst the celebrities attending the Finals.

Customs and Central Excise took the third spot as they defeated Indian Army 88-64 after leading 44-36 at the half time. Customs which had lost to Indian Army in the League round thus avenged their defeat as it worked today as an cohesive unit with 6 of them scoring in double digits. Gopal Ram had 19 points for Indian Army in the loss while Suresh Kumar added 16.

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.

Central Excise (Men), KSEB (Women) win 12th Kerala Champions Trophy

Customs & Central Excise (Men) and Kerala State Electricity Boards (KSEB) (Women) were victorious in the finals of the 12th Champions Trophy Inter-Club Basketball Championship organised by the YMCA in Kuriannoor, Kerala on January 28th. The championship, which was held from Jan 24th-28th, was held under the auspices of the Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) and the PDBA.

The Women's final was a close affair, as KSEB, winners of the trophy last year, were looking for a repeat victory against the team from Assumption College in Changanassery. Playing strong defense on the defending champs, Assumption held to a 33-25 lead after three quarters. But KSEB made a bullish comeback behind the experienced Anjana SS (15 points) to take the lead an survive for a 43-40 victory.

Customs & Central Excise played against the newly-recruited Kerala Police side in the Men's final, and the result was never in doubt for the more experienced and bigger Central Excise team. Led by Monish Wilson (34) and Shinumon Augustine (25), Central Excise led the whole way and cruised to a 95-59 drubbing. Anu Mohandas scored a team-high 18 points for Kerala Police.

Now, Customs and Central Excise, a Kochi-based side, will represent Kerala at the All-India Federation Cup Championship, which is set to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi itself.