2017 National Basketball Championship tips off in Puducherry with 52 top Indian teams

It's Indian basketball's greatest tradition, the beginning of every 'Happy New Year' with the happiest of news, the largest and most prestigious basketball competition in the country.

The 67th Senior National Basketball Championship for Men and Women - known as the 'Senior Nationals' - tipped off on Friday, January 7th at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Puducherry. The championship is being organised by the Puducherry Basketball Association under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). Featuring 52 total men and women's teams from states and units across India, the championship will conclude with the finals on January 14.

Last year, the 66th Senior Nationals were held in Mysuru (Karnataka), and won by Services (Men) and Indian Railways (Women).

29 international players in both Men and Women's divisions are expected to take part in the tournament this year, making it a major star-studded event, including Rikin Pethani, Pratham Singh, Aravind Annadurai, Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi (Tamil Nadu), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Yadwinder Singh, Amritpal Singh (Uttarakhand), TJ Sahi (Punjab), Smruthi Radhakrishnan, Anitha Pauldurai (Railways), Jeena Skaria, Poojamol Subhashmon (Kerala), Shireen Limaye (Maharashtra), and Bhandavya Mahesha (Karnataka). India's senior men's team star Amritpal Singh lighted the inaugural flame to officially tip-off the tournament.

After a brief scare where it seemed that Railways and Services may pull out from the Nationals this year, the BFI was able to reach an amicable resolution with both top units in the last minute and invite them to Puducherry for the championship. Apart from these teams, other top contenders at this year's nationals will include Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu in the Men's division and the Women's teams from Kerala and Delhi.

Participating Teams

Men

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

Women

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

In an early opening-day game, Gujarat's Men's team were led by Harpal Singh 23 to post a 57-51 win over Chhattisgarh. In Women's competition, Kerala flaunted their depth and star-power to beat West Bengal 66-21. Hosts Puducherry Women had a weak start to their campaign, losing to Odisha 61-24, with J Bakshy (23) and S Panda (18) leading the way for the winning side.

Tamil Nadu (Boys) and Karnataka (Girls) become 2016 Junior Nationals champions in Puducherry

The finest young basketball talent in India came under the same umbrella to Puducherry for the 2016 Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls, and the tournament concluded with victories for Tamil Nadu (Boys) and Karnataka (Girls), who both pulled off impressive finals victories at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Sunday. TN's Girls lost in the finals to Karnataka, while TN Boys beat Kerala.

The tournament was organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Puducherry Basketball Association. TN Boys were winners in last year's Junior Nationals in Ludhiana, while Chhattisgarh Girls beat Karnataka in the Final.

In the Girls' final, both the teams came to the occasion prepared and were neck and neck at the end of the first quarter. Both the teams were playing zone defense and their respective shooters maximized on the opportunities and were able to score from behind the arc. Tamil Nadu led, 16-14, after the first ten minutes. The intensity changed in the second quarter as Karnataka shifted to man to man defense and were able to stop the three pointers of Tamil Nadu. In the third quarter, Karnataka took a huge lead as their pressure defense forced the Tamil Nadu players into many turnovers. The turnover led to easy transition baskets, many of which were converted by its senior international star Bhandavya (28). In the fourth quarter, Karnataka maintained its double digit lead despite Tamil Nadu switching to a full court press in desperation. Karnataka overcome their loss in last year's final to win 64-44.

In the first quarter of the boys' final between TN and Kerala, TN's first quarter performance set the tone for the game. TN opened the game with a 23-16 advantage, as their stars Hari Ram (29) and P. Baladhaneshwar (19) leading the way. TN kept a composed lead to take a 43-35 advantage by halftime, and continued to match every spurt by Kerala with one of their own. Despite strong performances by the Kerala duo of Md Shiras (23) and Prem (22), TN moved on to win 88-77.

BFI President K Govindaraj was the chief guest for the prize distribution ceremony. Aadhav Arjuna, Chairman of the Organizing Committee & Managing Director of Arise Industries & Agency Pvt. Ltd. was the guest of honour. Dr T Sundararajan, the principal of Pondicherry Engineering College presided over the ceremony, with V Rajasekar, Managing Director, Raman Roadways felicitating the guests. Other dignitaries overseeing the ceremony included Rev Fr MS John Bosco, President-PBA and Dr V Ragothaman, Honorary Secretary-PBA.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Boys secured third place with a hard-fought win over Haryana, 77-72. Vishal scored 17 for Delhi. The Girls' bronze medal game was a classic encounter, too, as Shruti scored 27 points to help Maharashtra edge away for a 60-58 win against Chhattisgarh.

A day earlier, Chhattisgarh, last year's Girls' champions, were beaten in overtime in the semi-final by an incredible late comeback by Tamil Nadu, 63-57. Avanti scored 18 for TN, edging ahead of Chattisgarh's Riya Verma's 17. In the second girls' semi-final, Karnataka's Bhandavya HM led the way with 24 to help her team beat Maharashtra 73-63. Shreema had 16 for the losing side.

Both the boys' semi-finals were neck-to-neck clashes that were only decided in the final moments of the games. Prem scored 28 for Kerala as his team outscored Delhi 35-15 in the final quarter and pull off a shock 72-68 victory. Rachit (18) and Vishal (17) led thew way for Delhi. In the other boys' semi-final, TN's trio of Hari Ram (32), Daniel (20), and Baladhaneshwar (17) helped their team beat Haryana 83-79. Haryana's top scorers were Sonu (18) and Deepak (17).

Finals

• Boys: Tamil Nadu (Hari Ram 29, P. Baladhaneshwar 19) bt Kerala (Shiras 23, Prem 22) 88-77 [23-16, 20-19, 18-17, 27-25].
• Girls: Karnataka (Bhandavya HM 29) bt Tamil Nadu 64-44 [14-16, 19-9, 19-3, 12-16].

Bronze Medal Games

• Boys: Delhi (Vishal 17, Hasraj 14) bt Haryana (Sonu Kumar 14) 77-72 [11-12, 20-17, 20-20, 26-23].
• Girls: Maharashtra (Shruti 27, Neha 15) bt Chhattisgarh (Vaniana 15, Gulabsha 14) 60-58 [10-13, 16-15, 11-9, 23-21].

Final Standings

Boys

• 1. Tamil Nadu
• 2. Kerala
• 3. Delhi
• 4. Haryana
• 5. Punjab

Girls

• 1. Karnataka
• 2. Tamil Nadu
• 3. Maharashtra
• 4. Chhattisgarh
• 5. Kerala

2016 Junior (U18) National Basketball Championship tips off in Puducherry

There must be something in the fishes - or something fishy - out in Puducherry.

For the second time in the past four months, the traveling Indian basketball brigade returns to the union territory at India's south-western tip. Organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Puducherry District Basketball Association, the 67th Junior National Championship for Boys and Girls tipped off in Puducherry on Sunday May 1, 2016 at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium. The tournament, featuring 48 combined teams in both sexes, is India's premier competition for U-18 basketball stars and will be held until its finale on May 8.

The tournament marks the BFI's unexpectedly early return to Puducherry, after the region hosted the 2016 Sub-Jr National Championship back in February.

26 boys teams and 22 girls teams are participating this year, with matches being played on one indoor court and three outdoor courts. The tournament is played on a league cum knockout basis, with as many as 128 matches played from early morning till late night. In the league stages, all teams within each group play against each other, and the top teams qualify to the knockout stages. Last year in the boys section, Tamil Nadu, and in the girls section Chhattisgarh, were crowned champions in Ludhiana.

The participating teams in the 2016 Junior Nationals are:

Boys

• Group A: Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Kerala, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh.
• Group B: Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh.
• Group C: Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, West Bengal.
• Group D: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand.
• Group E: Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Mizoram, Tripura.
• Group F: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Puducherry, Telangana.

Girls

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

Chhattisgarh girls began their title defense on the right foot, surviving in a close matchup against Tamil Nadu 59-58. An impressive second quarter run saw Chhattisgarh take a small lead into halftime, and they extended their lead to 48-42 before the start of the final quarter. But TN played desperate trap and man-on-on defense to make a huge fourth quarter comeback to take a two point lead in the game's last to minutes. Clutch baskets and close-out defense by Chhattisgarh saw them regain their lead and survive for a one-point win. Vandana (19) and Riya (16) led the way for Chhattisgarh, while Ishwarya scored 17 for TN in the loss. Last year's girls' silver-medalists Karnataka started off their tournament with a bang, destroying Rajasthan 69-20.

Boys' champs Tamil Nadu played in a close, high-caliber opening game against Kerala. The two teams traded baskets and leads throughout the course of the game. With the game tied in the closing moments, Kerala’s Prem Prakash used his length to intercept a loose ball, leading to a fast-break lay-up that turned into the game-winner. Tamil Nadu had a chance to tie the game with two free throws at the final whistle, but Hari Ram (22) missed both to hand Kerala the 83-81 win. Muhamed Siras scored 24 for Kerala in the win. In another Level 1 boys' game, M. Aly scored 24 to help Rajasthan overcome Uttar Pradesh 56-46.

Final Scores

Boys

• Rajasthan (M. Aly 24) bt Uttar Pradesh (Lav Singh 14) 56-46 [12-16, 13-12, 21-11, 10-7].
• Kerala (Muhamed Siras 24) bt Tamil Nadu (Hari Ram 22, Bala Dhaneshwar 14) 83-81 [15-13, 18-22, 25-22, 25-24].
• Mizoram (Lalfakzula 34) bt Tripura (Akshay 27) 75-74 [13-21, 20-22, 17-14, 25-17].

Girls

• Kerala bt Uttar Pradesh 45-12 [12-3, 5-3, 11-2, 17-4].
• Karnataka (Bhandavya 13) bt Rajasthan 69-20 [20-10, 13-2, 20-7, 16-1].
• Chhattisgarh (Vandana 19, Riya 16) bt Tamil Nadu (Ishwarya 17, Nishanti 13) 59-58 [14-18, 14-7, 20-17, 11-16].

Chhattisgarh claim double glory at Junior National Basketball Championship in Puducherry

Stamping their authority over basketball in India, both the boys and the girls under-18 squads from the state of Chhattisgarh demolished their way through the 63rd Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in Puducherry, ending the 8-day tournament by lifting the winner’s trophies in both divisions on Wednesday, May 30th. The tournament, which tipped off on May 23rd at Puducherry’s Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, concluded with two memorable final games last night.

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