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.

Indian Bank (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) win 2019 All India Basketball Tournaments in Coimbatore

Two of the most prestigious invitational basketball in India came to a conclusion on Saturday after six days of high-level hoops action in Coimbatore. Indian Bank (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) won the 54th Nachimuthu Gounder Cup and 18th CRI Pumps Trophy respectively after a couple of close finals. The tournament was held from May 27 - June 1 by the Coimbatore District Basketball Association (CDBA) at the VOC Park Basketball Court.

Indian Bank from Chennai defeated Income Tax in the finale 74-64 to secure the gold medal.

In the women’s category Southern Railway (Hubli) managed to maintain the lead from the beginning over South Central Railway and won the match and trophy by two points 57-55.

India Army defeated Indian Air Force 72-62 for third place in the men's division, while last year's women's champions KSEB finished third with a 46-33 win over Arise Steel.

There was Rs.1.85 lakh prize money and Cup for men and Rs.1 lakh and trophy for women’s teams. Customs (Chennai) and KSEB (Thiruvanathapuram) won last year's iterations of the tournament.

Income Tax (Chennai) win the 54th All India PSG Trophy in Coimbatore

It's been the second major tournament victory for India's "Taxmen" in two months. The Income Tax squad from Chennai came up atop at the 54th All India basketball tournament for the PSG Trophy in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The tournament was held from September 9-13 at the PSG Tech Indoor Complex, featuring eight top Men's basketball teams.

In the close final on Thursday, Income Tax defeated Bengaluru's Vijaya Bank 82-78. Jeeva Nandham was dominant in the finale, scoring 36 points in the victory for Income Tax, while Ram Kumar added 17. International player Aravind Annadurai and Anil Kumar each scored 26 for Vijaya Bank's losing effort.

The winners of the tournament were rewarded 1 lakh rupees, while 50,000 was given to the runners-up.

Income Tax (Chennai) win 5th edition of Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty tournament in Bengaluru

They'll whoop your squad and demand the receipts.

Chennai's Income Tax came, saw, and conquered at the 5th Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament, defeating the host team Vijaya Bank in front of a hostile crowd in Bengaluru on Sunday. The five-day tournament featured seven invited Men's club teams from around the country at the Beagles Indoor Basketball Stadium in Malleswaram, Bengaluru.

Undefeated in the tournament and having already notched a group stage victory over Vijaya Bank, Income Tax were determined to cap off their campaign on a high. After Vijaya Bank took an early lead, the 'Taxmen' bounced back with a 26-14 run in the second quarter to create some separation between the squads. Vijaya Bank turned up their defensive intensity in the fourth for a late comeback, but a clutch late lay-up by Income Tax's G. Sivabalan helped secure the 76-72 victory. Ravi Kumar scored 26 to lead IT in the final and Jeevanantham Pandi added 16. Vijaya Bank were led by Anil Kumar (27) and Arvind Arumugam (20).

Sivabalan was named the tournament's MVP.

Also on the final day, Lonavala's Indian Navy defeated 2017 champions Chennai's Integral Coach Factory (ICF) to secure the bronze medal. Mahipal Singh led with 23 for Navy's 69-59 victory.

Participating teams in the tournament included Vijaya Bank (Bengaluru), Indian Customs (Pune), Indian Navy (Lonavala), ICF (Chennai), Income Tax (Chennai), Telangana, and Karnataka. Reigning champions IOB (Chennai) did not take part this year.

Along with trophies, cash prizes of Rs. 1,00,000/- for the winners, Rs. 50,000/- for the runners-up, and Rs. 25,000/- and Rs. 10,000 for the 3rd and 4th place teams respectively, were awarded.

Final Results

• Winners: Income Tax
• Runners-up: Vijaya Bank
• Third Place: Indian Navy
• Fourth Place: ICF
• MVP: G. Sivabalan (Income Tax)
• Most Promising Player: Hareesh M. (Vijaya Bank)
• Best Defensive Player: Clinton Andrews (Vijaya Bank)
• Crowd Favourite: Ravi Kumar (Income Tax)

South Central Railway (Women) and ONGC (Men) win 2016 All India Basketball Tournaments in Coimbatore

Continuing an annual tradition, two of India's top invitational club basketball tournaments were held in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, featuring top talent from across the country. The 15th CRI Pumps Trophy (Women) and the Nachibuthu Gounder Cup (Men) concluded at the VOC Park Corporation Sports Complex courts in Coimbatore on Wednesday, June 1, with South Central Railway (SCR) of Secunderabad and ONGC from Dehardun winning the Women's and Men's titles respectively.

In the Women's CRI Pumps Trophy final, SCR trailed for most of the way to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) team from Thiruvanathapuram, and had build up a double-digit cushion. But SCR staged a brilliant comeback behind a 28 point outburst by M. Gayathri to secure a late lead and clinch the 51-48 win.

In the Men's Nachibuthu Gounder Cup final, veteran leaders and young stars of India's international squad came together to overpower Chennai's Income Tax en route to a 78-55 win. ONGC's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi led all scorers in the final with 28, while Amrit Pal Singh - who plays for Tokyo Excellence of the Japanese D-League - scored 18. Trideep Rai added 17 to ONGC's offensive firepower. Rikin Pethani and Ramkumar both added 18 for Income Tax in the loss.

Tipping off on May 27th, the Nachibuthu Gounder Cup made a comeback to Coimbatore basketball after eight years, replacing the All India PSG Trophy. Eight leading Men's teams - ONGC, KSEB, Integral Coach Factory (Chennai), Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), Income Tax, North Frontier Railway (Guwahati), Kerala Police and Coimbatore District Basketball Association (CDBA) - vied for top honours.

The CRI Pumps Trophy for Women was held simultaneously, in which the reigning champions Chattisgarh, runners-up KSEB, Southern Railway, SCR, North Frontier Railway, South East Central Railway (Bilaspur), Central Railway (Mumbai), and CBDA took part.

Last year, Indian Army won the PSG All India trophy while Chhattisgarh secured the CRI Pumps title in Coimbatore.

Income Tax (Chennai) win 2015 Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty Basketball Tournament in Bengaluru

For five days, eight of India's top basketball clubs and states gathered together in Bengaluru for the 2nd Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament, an invitational championship held at the city's Sri Kantaveera Stadium. Eventually, the tournament's finale pitted together Chennai's Income Tax and Dehradun's ONGC in a memorable clash. Income Tax's impressive first half effort set the tone for them, as they outlasted ONGC to win the final 70-56 and lift the winner's trophy.

Tipping off on October 7, the tournament was organized and sponsored by Vijaya Bank and held in the memory of the Late Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty, a longstanding former Chairman who was instrumental in the growth of the bank through the 60s and 70s. It was held under the auspices of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA).

ONGC were in the final of the tournament for the second consecutive year after finishing as runners-up in the tournament's debut a year ago. Despite having veteran international big names in the squad, ONGC were missing star Indian center Amrit Pal Singh (playing professionally in Japan) and had to contend with an injured Yadwinder Singh. Early in the game, a scuffle got Yadwinder, ONGC teammate Murali Krishan and Income Tax's Ravi Kumar all throw out of the game.

Income Tax made the most of their slight advantage by taking a huge early lead and stretching it out to 44-24 by halftime. Despite the best efforts of India captain and ONGC's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (24) in the second half, Income Tax did enough to keep their lead secure and win 70-56. Ram Kumar (22) and international big man Rikin Pethani (19) led the way for the winning side.

Income Tax's MA Raghuram was named the tournament's MVP while his teammate Ram Kumar was given the Most Promising Player award.

Earlier in the day, home team Vijaya Bank - led by Anil Kumar (26) and Arvind (19) - outlasted Thiruvanathapuram's Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in a highly competitive clash to win the bronze medal in the tournament. KSEB's Alvin Baby scored 32 points and helped his squad lead a charge back in the game's second half, but Vijaya Bank did just enough to win the game 65-61.

Final: Income Tax (Ram Kumar 22, Rikin Pethani 19) bt ONGC (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 24, Riyazuddin 14) 70-56 [20-10, 24-14, 17-19, 9-13].

Final Standings

• 1. Income Tax
  
• 2. ONGC
  
• 3. Vijaya Bank
  

Income Tax and Southern Railway win 2015 All India Jeppiaar Basketball Trophy

Several of the top club teams in India headed down south to Chennai to take part in the fifth installment of the Jeppiaar Trophy All India Invitational Tournament, a championship that brought together 11 teams in the Men's and Women's divisions to the Jeppiaar Institute of Technology (JIT) in the city. After six days of basketball featuring some of the best present and future stars in the country, Income Tax (Men) and repeating title winners Southern Railway (Women) ended the tournament as champions after the final day on Saturday, March 14.

The participating teams at the 2015 Jeppiaar Trophy were:

Men

Pool A: Vijaya Bank, KSEB, Sathyabama University, Income Tax.
Pool B: Indian Army, Air Force, JIT.

Women: Southern Railway, JIT, South Central Railway, South Eastern Railway

In the Men's final, Income Tax defeated Vijaya Bank 67-59. Income Tax's Vinay Kaushik scored 22 points in the final for his team's victory and was named the Player of the tournament. The Women's tournament was only held in round-robin fashion in the group stage. Southern Railway finished undefeated in the Women's group and were thus named champions, with South Central Railway and South Eastern Railway finishing second and third respectively.

The last iteration of this tournament was held back in 2013, with IOB (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) emerging as winners.

Before the tournament, JIT created a preview video about the tournament and the Men's and Women's home teams. You can check it out here.