Kochi to host 2014 Junior (U18) National Basketball Championship

Kochi in Kerala, a basketball-crazed city in a basketball-crazed state, will be the hosts of India's 65th National Basketball Championship for Junior Boys and Girls, starting from May 26th - June 2nd. The 'Junior Nationals' will be organized by the Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) under the auspices of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the city.

This national event will culminate with under-18 state teams from all across the country taking part, including 24 team's in the boys' section and the 23 among the girls. The Junior Championship is coming to Kerala after a gap of 37 years, with the last one being held back in 1977. Over a 1000 participants including referees, coaches, officials & members of the Indian basketball fraternity will be attending the championship in an official guise.

The Championship will be officially opened by Hibi Eden MLA, presided over by Arjuna Award winner and President of Kerala State Sports Council Padmini Thomas in presence of Secretary General of BFI Ajay Sud and Technical Committee Chairman G M Sampath Kumar.

Chhattisgarh (Girls) are this championships's reigning champions while Delhi (Boys) won the gold medal in Cuttack last year. Hosts Kerala will be hoping to challenge in both divisions once more, especially after their girls' side lost in last year's final. Punjab and Tamil Nadu are other top contenders in the boys' division while Maharashtra will be one of Chhattisgarh's top challengers among the girls.

The finals will be played on 2nd June 2014. The championship will carry a Prize money of Rs 1 lakh for the winners, Rs 75,000 for the runners-up and Rs 50,000 for the bronze medalists.