Punjab Police (Men) and Eastern Railway (Women) lift 2019 Federation Cup trophies in Greater Noida

Sometimes, basketball can be completely uncomplicated, when the most basic of tenets of the game shine brighter than all the rest: size and talent. At the 33rd Federation Cup Basketball Championship for Men and Women held over the past week in Greater Noida, these were the tenets that made the difference, as the best squads separated themselves from the rest. At the tournaments finals on Sunday, June 16, the two biggest and deepest teams - Punjab Police (Men) and Eastern Railway (Women) - rose to the challenge and secured the prestigious gold medals.

Organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), the Federation Cup was held from June 12-16, 2019 at the Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida, featuring 9 teams from top men's units and 8 of the women's top state teams from around India taking part.

On the final day, Eastern Railway Women were led by Libina MJ (28) and India's tallest women basketball player Poonam Chaturvedi (26) to an easy victory over Tamil Nadu, 86-67. Eastern Railway got off to a sensational 29-15 start and road the momentum towards their victory. TN's rising young star Dharshini Thirunavukkarasu had 19 for her side in the losing effort.

The Men's final saw the tournament's most impressive team - Punjab Police - complete their rout to secure this championship. Featuring two international professional players Amritpal Singh and late-addition Amjyot Singh, Punjab Police had been stellar all week, and capped off their run with a 91-71 win over the physical Indian Army squad. Arsh Preet Bhullar led the Punjabis with 24 points and Amjyot added 20. For Army, Sunil Rathee (18) and Gopal Ram (16) were the top scorers in the loss.

Earlier on Sunday, Gnanasekaran Sivabalan scored 34 for Income Tax (Chennai) to help them secure third place with a blowout win - 96-70 - over Chandigarh's Shri Guru Gobind Singh College. P. Jeevananthan added 17 for IT's win. Mithun Das (21) and P. Pandey (17) were Shri Guru Gobind Singh's leading scorers. In the women's bronze medal game, last year's champs Kerala survived a one-woman show by Maharashtra's Shruthi Aravind to win 91-70. Aravind's game-high 41 points were enough to lead the charge against a balanced Kerala squad, who were led by Anjanna PG (26), Poojamol Kochuparambu (16) and others.

Newly-minted Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju was present on Sunday to felicitate the medalists at the Cup. The top three teams received Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 50,000, and Rs. 25,000 respectively.

Arsh Preet Bhullar (Punjab Police) and Libina MJ (Eastern Railway) were named Men and Women's MVP respectively at the tournament.

Final Scores

• Women: Eastern Railway (Libina MJ 28, Poonam Chaturvedi 26, Sitamani Tudu 13) bt. Tamil Nadu (Dharshini Thirunavukkarasu 19, M Nishanthi 13) 86-67 [29-15,17-22,21-13,19-12].
• Men: Punjab Police (Arsh Preet Bhullar 24, Amjyot Singh 20, Ranbir Singh 18) bt. Indian Army (Sunil Rathee 18, Gopal Ram 16) 91-71.

Final Standings

Women

1. Eastern Railway
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Kerala

Men

1. Punjab Police
2. Indian Army
3. Income Tax

Customs (Chennai) and KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) win 2018 All India Basketball Tournaments in Coimbatore

The five-day invitational basketball tournaments in Coimbatore - Nachimuthu Gounder Cup for Men and 17th CRI Pumps Trophy for Women - came to a conclusion on Thursday, May 31, with victories for Customs (Chennai) and KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) in the Men's and Women's tournaments respectively.

Top club teams from around India were invited for these prestigious tournaments, featuring eight Men's teams and and eight Women's teams. The tournaments were organised by the Coimbatore District Basketball Association (CBDA).

Customs beat Indian Railways 69-63 in the Men's final of this 53rd All-India Championship, led by Hari Ram (26).

In the women's section, KSEB beat Eastern Railway (Kolkata) 59-43 in the final.

Vijaya Bank (Men) & Eastern Railway (Women) win 2014 JCI Basketball Tournament at Athirampuzha

Kolkata's outfit Eastern Railway capitalized their unexpected run with a final victory over Assumption College (Changanacherry) to win the 5th JCI All India Invitational Basketball Tournament, held in Athirampuzha in Kottayam district, Kerala on January 12th. In the Men's Final that followed, Bangalore's outfit Vijaya Bank blew out Customs (Chennai) for a resounding victory.

Eastern Railway trailed by two points at halftime of the Women's Final, but turned things around behind a strong effort by Sukurmoni Oran (22) to take the lead over Assumption and fight to a 62-55 win.

In the Men's game, Vijaya's Bank star Aravind was on fire, scoring 31 points to lead the rout over Customs. Vijaya Bank had a 42-22 lead at halftime and cruised to a 72-44 win.

Special guests at the finale - held at Athirampuzha St Aloysius Basketball Stadium - including Kerala's Forest Transport, Sports, Environment, and Cinema Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MP Jose K Mani, Mons Joseph, Suresh Kurup, NBA-certified coach Jim Coronna , ex India international gootballer IM Vijayan, and India international basketball player CV Sunny.

ONGC (Men) and Central Railway (Women) won the JCI basketball tournament last year.

ONGC & Southern Railway won Golden Eagle Blue Star All India Tournament in Chennai

Blessed with some of the most dominant India international player’s on their roster, Dehradun’s ONGC side blazed through the Golden Eagle Blue Star All India Invitational Basketball Tournament in Chennai, defeating Customs and Central Excise (Kochi) in the tournament's Men's final on Thursday, August 22nd. The Women's final was also held earlier on the same day, and home side Southern Railway added another feather to their successful cap by sweeping past Secunderabad's South Central Railway.

Eight Men's teams and six Women's squads, divided into two groups each, took part in the six-day tournament, which was held at the JJ Stadium in Chennai.

India's national squad Center Amrit Pal Singh continued his development as a superstar anchor in the middle, scoring 29 points in dominating performance in the final to lead ONGC to a 76-63 win. India's captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi added 16 points for the winning team. ONGC were able to withstand Customs and Central Excise's duo of Monish Wilson (21) and Eudrick Pereira (17) in their victory.

Southern Railway - who have been the glowing spark in India women's basketball led by the usual suspects Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai in recent years - had little trouble in cruising past South Central Railway 62-43 as they brought some cheers from the home crowd in their victory. Anitha had a game-high 23 points in the Women's final.

The Men's winners (ONGC) took home a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, while second place (Customs and Central Excise) were rewarded Rs. 60,000. Women's winners (Southern Railway) also won Rs. 75,000 and runners-up (South Central Railway) Rs. 40,000.

The group stage of the tournament was played in a league format, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the knockout stages. The semi-finals were held on Wednesday. Amrit Pal Singh (22) and Bhriguvanshi (18) led ONGC to a 64-50 win over home side IOB. In a high-scoring second men's semi-final, Customs and Central Excise defeating Indian Army (Delhi) 89-80. Eudrick Perira (20), Monish Wilson (19) and Basil Phillip (18) led the winning side.

In the Women's section, Southern Railway entered the final by defeating Western Railway 65-49. Manda Meshram (20) and Jilna Jose (18) led South Central Railway to a 83-65 win over Eastern Railway (Kolkata). Madhu Kumari had a valiant performance with 30 points for Eastern Railway in a losing effort.

The finals were broadcast live on DD Sports in India. Another special shoutout here to Gopalakrishnan R., who did an incredible job in covering this tournament on SportsKeeda every day.