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

33rd Federation Cup National Basketball Tournament tips off in Greater Noida

If you wish to find the best basketball players in India this week, take the long route out to the Yamuna Expressway, in the barren lands of Greater Noida, far away from the crowds and infrastructure of urban Delhi, and you'll find a basketball court somewhere in this middle-of-nowhere, an oasis of hoops, a relief of slam dunks, slick passes, and big jump-shots.

This is where the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA) is hosting the 33rd Federation Cup Basketball Championship for Men and Women. The tournament tipped off on Wednesday, June 12 and is scheduled until June 16 at the Indoor Stadium of the Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida's Gautam Budhh Nagar. 17 combined teams of the Men and Women's divisions are taking part in this year's event.

The Federation Cup fray consists of the top teams 8 from last year's Senior Nationals, plus the host state for this year's event. In the Men's division, the top ranking states send their best clubs/units. In the Women's divisions, the state teams themselves take part. Last year's Federation Cup was held in Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) and won by IOB (Men) and Kerala (Women).

33rd Federation Cup Participating Teams

Men

• Pool A: Income Tax (Chennai), Punjab Police, ASC Centre (Bengaluru), BSF (Jodhpur), RDSO (Lucknow).
• Pool B: Indian Army, Central Railway, Shri Guru Gobind Singh College (Chandigarh), BEG (Roorkee)

Women

• Pool A: Eastern Railway, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi.
• Pool B: Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh.

Kerala's women began their title defense in style, blowing past hosts UP 62-43 in their opening game, led by their experienced leader Anjana PG (18). Eastern Railway defeated Delhi 97-62 behind big scoring outings by Poonam Chaturvedi (27) and Anjamma Daisy (18).

Indian Army defeated Central Railway 90-77 in one of the Men's games, led by Gopal Ram (23) and Suresh Kumar (19). Loveneet Singh had 21 for Central Railway in the loss. In a highly-anticipated contest, Punjab Police cruised past Income Tax 66-52. Returning Punjabi international Amritpal Singh led all scorers with 21 in the win. Gnanasekaran Sivabalan scored 20 for Income Tax.

The championship was officially inaugurated on Wednesday by Mahesh Sharma, current MLA from Noida.