7th Savio Cup tips off in Mumbai!

One of Mumbai's most respected and loved basketball tournaments returns: the 7th edition of the Savio Cup All India Basketball Tournament will be held at the Don Bosco High School in Matunga, Mumbai, from January 8-15, 2012. Once again, some of the best Men's and Women's club teams from around India - plus the now-regular American side 'Shooting For Success' - will take part in the tournament.

Six Men's teams and three Women's teams will take part in the competition, tipped off at 4 PM on Sunday, Jan 8th, with a Men's clash between hosts Maharashtra and the recent winners of the Senior National Basketball Championship, Punjab.

The inauguration ceremony was held at 6 PM on Sunday.

Fr. Bosco D'Mello, the Principal of the Don Bosco School said, "The Savio Cup Basketball tournament for Men and Women is back to enthrall and entertain us in 7th year in succession. It has been growing in reputation and stature year after year and this year in its 7th edition it promises to get even bigger."

The teams participating in the Savio Cup this year are:

Men: Punjab, Indian Railways, Services, Maharashtra, ONGC, Shooting For Success
Women: Southern Railway, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra

Railways were the team to beat last year in both the divisions: the Men's side defeated Shooting For Success in a classic final game, while Southern Railway Women also got their stiffest challenge in the final game against Chhattisgarh.

Shooting For Success, a San Antonio (USA) based basketball club and foundation, will be participating for the fifth consecutive year in the Savio Cup, and they have become one of the favourites of the locals for boasting their athletic lineup of stars. This team will be led once again by their point guard and leader David "DJ" Jones. This year, a new addition to the side will be 6'10" big man Timir Patel, an Indian-origin basketball player from Texas who has played at the highest level of college ball in the US as well as trying his skills in several different countries around the world.

Every year, the Savio Cup also features an exciting slam dunk contest: here is a short video of last year's dunk contest to whet your appetite for the 2012 Savio Cup!

6th UPL All India Savio Cup to tip off in Mumbai

Mumbai’s basketball lovers are in for a feast of high quality basketball, as India's leading male and female hoopsters - along with a team from the United States of America 'Shooting for Success' - will be vying for top honours in the 6th Edition of the UPL All India Savio Cup-Don Bosco Basketball Tournament, held from 23rd January 2011 to 30th January 2011. The tournament will be held at Don Bosco High School (Matunga) and will be sponsored by United Phosphorous Ltd and Co-sponsored by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

The tournament, which has become one of the leading basketball competitions in the country, will feature six teams in the Men’s and four teams in the Women’s divisions.

Father Bosco D’Mello, Organizing Secretary of the tournament said, “The Savio Cup is a brilliant effort of teamwork. Diehard fans of the sport of basketball (both young and not so young) coming together to give a boost to the game of basketball, both to popularize it and take it to great heights by bringing together the best players both of Indian origin and overseas. You have got to be there to live the experience."

Participating Teams

Men: Services, IOB Chennai, Indian Railways, Punjab, Maharashtra, Shooting for Success (San Antonio, Texas, USA).

Women: Southern Railway, South East Central Railway, Karnataka, Maharashtra.

Some of the star players featuring in the tournament will include Shambaji Kadam, Dilip Kumar, Vishesh Bruguvanshi, Talwinder Singh, Mihir Pandey, Jagdeep, Yadwinder Singh, Harish, Geetu Anna Jose, Anita Pauldurai, Bharati Netam, Anju Lakra, Shirin Limaye, Sneha Rajguru, Amrita Baskute, Seema Singh, and others.

A highlight of this year’s tournament is the special felicitation function planned for the Administrators, Referees, Players and Journalists of yesteryear who had made significant contributions to the game of Basketball.

The tournament's organisers are doing a vigorous job in promoting the event. Savio Cup updates can be found on its Facebook page, on Twitter, and the organisers will also be sending SMS updates to fans who wish to submit their number for information.

The men and women will play a round robin league, with the top two teams going on to play the final. The men’s winners stand to gain Rs. 1 lakh, while the runners-up teams will take home Rs. 50,000. The women’s winners will take home Rs. 50,000 with the runner-up teams standing to gain Rs. 25,000. There will be prizes for every match as well as for individual brilliance.

Also planned are a ‘dunking competition’ and a ‘three-point shooting competition’.

The matches will be played on the Terra Flex surface with the use of Electronic Scoreboards and 24-second devices, in specially erected stadium to seat approx. 2000 spectators.

Three matches are expected to be played every day and they will be officiated by International referees, from different states, including three from Maharashtra.