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.