India's National Youth (U16) National Basketball Championship 2019 tips off in Coimbatore

As many as 700 players young Indian basketball players, fresh faces set to be the future of Indian hoops, have gathered in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) this week for the 36th Youth (U16) National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls. The tournament tipped off in Tuesday and is scheduled to be held from May 14-21 at the PSG College of Technology indoor stadium in Coimbatore. It is being organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association (TNBA).

In October last year, hosts Rajasthan (Boys) and Punjab (Girls) won the respective golds at the 2018 Youth National Basketball Championship in Udaipur. Rajasthan's Boys will again be among the favourites this year, along with strong units from Maharashtra and hosts Tamil Nadu. For the girls, watch out for all of last year's top three finishers - Punjab, Karnataka, and Maharashtra - to put on a good show.

This year's participating teams are:

Girls
• Level 1 - Group A: Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Delhi.
• Level 1 - Group B: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh.
• Level 2 - Group C: Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh.
• Level 2 - Group D: West Bengal, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir.
• Level 2 - Group E: Chandigarh, Assam, Jharkhand, Telangana.
• Level 2 - Group F: Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry.

Boys
• Level 1 - Group A: Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi.
• Level 1 - Group B: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Punjab, Chhattisgarh.
• Level 2 - Group C: Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh.
• Level 2 - Group D: Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand.
• Level 2 - Group E: West Bengal, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Telangana.
• Level 2 - Group F: Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Puducherry.

Boys' reigning champions Rajasthan started off their campaign in style on the first day of action, dismantling Delhi with a 85-29 scoreline. Hosts Tamil Nadu stumbled in their first match, losing to Haryana 82-65.

In the girls' division, Punjab began their claim for a repeat title with an exciting 74-69 win over Delhi. Last year's finalists Karnataka defeated Uttar Pradesh 63-36.

You can find the full schedule of games here.