ONGC (Men), Southern Railway (Women) defend titles at 2014 Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament

Coming into the 17th edition of the All India Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament (AIAMBT) as holders, ONGC (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) defending their titles in style, leading their respective Finals end to end for comfortable victories. The five day tournament - which tipped off in Jaipur (Rajasthan) on April 9 - concluded with the Finals featuring some of India's top basketball players on Sunday, April 13, 2014.

Southern Railway (Women), who comprise of several players from the Indian Railways squad, got a measure of revenge against Chhattisgarh's South East Central Railway (SECR - from Bilaspur) with a comfortable 75-47 win in the Final. Last month, many of the SECR players made up the Chhattisgarh squad that shocked Indian Railways in the Final of the Indian National championship. At the AIAMBT Finals, Anitha Paul Durai was the star for Southern Railway, scoring 18 points - all from the three-point line - to lead all scorers en route Southern Railways' victory.

Photo Courtesy: Ekalavyas

The Men's game which followed was a relatively tighter affair between ONGC and Indian Air Force (IAF). IAF had no answers for the outside shooting threat of ONGC veteran Trideep Rai, who led all scorers with 27 points. Young Indian international Amrit Pal Singh added 17 for the victors, as ONGC closed out the game for a 76-61 win.

Southern Railway's Kokila Subramani (Women) and ONGC's Amrit Pal Singh (Men) were named the Most Valuable Players of the tournament.

Both winning teams were awarded Rs. 1 Lakh each while the runners-up won Rs. 50,000 in both divisions.

The AIAMBT was started in the year 1975 as a tribute to the late Principal of MNIT (formerly known as MREC) Professor RM Advani, but is only in its 17th iteration this year. This edition of the tournament featured eight Men's teams and six Women's teams representing as clubs or states. It was also noted by the recap of the tournament on Ekalavyas.com that this tournament is perhaps India’s only senior invitational basketball tournament that is completely managed by students (of MNIT).

All India Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament tips off in Jaipur

Many of the top Men and Women basketball playeres from across India will be in Jaipur (Rajasthan) this week for the 17th edition of the All India Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament (AIAMBT) in the city. The tournament, which is being organized at the Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), tipped off on Wednesday, April 9 and will conclude with the Finals on April 13th. This edition of the tournament will feature eight Men's teams and six Women's teams representing as clubs or states.

The participating teams are: (via Ekalavyas)

Men

Pool A: Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), North Frontier Railways (NFR Guwahati), Punjab, Rajasthan.
Pool B: ONGC, Indian Air Force, South Central Railway (SCR - Secunderabad), Rail Coach Factory (RCF Kapurthala).

Women

Pool A: Southern Railway (Chennai), Eastern Railway (Kolkata), Delhi
Pool B: Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), South East Central Railway (SECR Bilaspur), Rajasthan.

In the Men's section, Punjab (who were finalists at the BFI National Championship last month) and the talented ONGC side will be favourites to take home the title. The Women's fray could see a fight to the finish between the consistently successful Southern Railway side and SECR from Bilaspur, a team that is sure to feature some members of the Chhattisgarh team which upset Indian Railways in the National Championship last month.

Several top Indian stars, such as Geethu Anna Jose, Anju Lakra, Amrit Pal Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Yadwinder Singh, and more are taking part in the tournament.

The AIAMBT was started in the year 1975 as a tribute to the late Principal of MNIT (formerly known as MREC) Professor RM Advani, but is only in its 17th iteration this year. On April 9, at the tournament's opening ceremony, the event was inaugurated by Ajit Mohan Saran (IAS), Scretary Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India and Ajit Kumar Singh (IAS), Principal Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of Rajasthan.

Check out Ekalavyas for results from the first day of games and the schedule ahead.

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.

Southern Railway & IOB (Chennai) win the 3rd Jeppiaar Trophy in Chennai

Shining with the help of some home town advantage, the squad’s from Southern Railway and IOB (Chennai) won the Women’s and Men’s trophy respectively at the 3rd Jeppiaar All India Invitational Basketball Tournament in Chennai. Southern Railway defeated South East Central Railway (SECR) in the Women’s final on Thursday to win the championship, while IOB lifted the title after beating ONGC in a closely contested Men’s final on Friday evening at JJ Indoor Stadium.

Only in the third year since its inception, the Jeppiaar Tournament in Chennai has gained a reputation as one of the most exciting and competitive basketball championships in India, featuring some of the best club sides from across the country. The tournament, which was held from October 9-14th this year, also plays as a fitting precursor to the Senior National Basketball Championship which will be taking place in Chennai in two months.

The tournament was organised by the Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumpudur.

The Woman’s championship featured four teams: Southern Railway, SECR, Billai Steel Plant, and Central Railway. Southern Railway had an exceptional tournament, as they won all three of their round robin games before entering the final versus SECR. After a closely-contested first quarter, the result of this final also soon became a foregone conclusion as SECR had no answers for Southern Railway’s three-pronged attack of Anitha Paul Durai, Geethu Anna Jose, and Kokila S.

Anitha was the best player in the final, leading the way with 31 points as Southern Railway won easily, 89-40. Kokila S. was rewarded for her consistent play and named as the player of the tournament in the woman’s section.

The Men’s competition featured a much wider spread of eight teams: Chennai Customs, RCF Kapurthala, Punjab Police, Indian Air Force, ONGC, Sathyabama University, Indian Army, IOB (Chennai), Integral Coach Factory (ICF) (Chennai), and hosts, Jeppiaar Institute of Technology. After the group stage, four teams: IOB, Indian Army, ONGC, and the surprise package Sathyabama University qualified for the Semi-finals. IOB and ONGC defeated Indian Army and Sathyabama in their semi-final clashes respectively on Thursday.

The Men’s final saw two experienced sides, IOB and ONGC, face off against each other in a classic encounter. The game was close throughout, with IOB leading by two at the end of the first quarter and ONGC leading by three at the end of the second. IOB began to improve their game in the third period and slowly stretch the lead in this tough, defensive match-up. By the end of the game, ONGC found it hard to close the gap as IOB won 55-48 to lift the Jeppiaar trophy for the first time.

Sathyabama won the third-place game, defeating Indian Army 74-67 behind efforts by Rikin S Pethani (22 points), Vignesh (18), and Raghu Ram (17). Pethani was named the Men’s Player of the Tournament.

The Men's winning team was awarded with Rs. 1.1 lakh, runners-up with Rs. 80,000, and 2nd runners-up with Rs. 50,000. In the Women's section, the winning team was awarded with Rs. 80,000, runners-up with Rs. 50,000, and 2nd runners-up with Rs. 30,000.