Punjab Police retain All India Police Games basketball title in Thrissur

Defending champions Punjab Police retained their basketball title at the 62nd All India Police Games with a win over hosts Kerala Police in the final at the Kerala Varma College in Thrissur on Friday. The four-day basketball tournament featured 25 state/unit police teams from all over the country.

The final was an evenly-contested affair between the Police teams from Punjab and Kerala. Kerala held on to a small lead half way into the third quarter, but Punjab surged to regain the advantage, and held on for a 79-69 victory. India's young international star Amrit Pal Singh led Punjab with 19 points, while Harminder Singh added 18 for the winners. Jomon Jose (27) and Shan A (21) had big games for Kerala but came out on the losing end.

CRPF took home the bronze medal after defeating BSF Jalandhar in a tightly-contested third-place game, 69-66.

Central Excise (Men), KSEB (Women) win 12th Kerala Champions Trophy

Customs & Central Excise (Men) and Kerala State Electricity Boards (KSEB) (Women) were victorious in the finals of the 12th Champions Trophy Inter-Club Basketball Championship organised by the YMCA in Kuriannoor, Kerala on January 28th. The championship, which was held from Jan 24th-28th, was held under the auspices of the Kerala Basketball Association (KBA) and the PDBA.

The Women's final was a close affair, as KSEB, winners of the trophy last year, were looking for a repeat victory against the team from Assumption College in Changanassery. Playing strong defense on the defending champs, Assumption held to a 33-25 lead after three quarters. But KSEB made a bullish comeback behind the experienced Anjana SS (15 points) to take the lead an survive for a 43-40 victory.

Customs & Central Excise played against the newly-recruited Kerala Police side in the Men's final, and the result was never in doubt for the more experienced and bigger Central Excise team. Led by Monish Wilson (34) and Shinumon Augustine (25), Central Excise led the whole way and cruised to a 95-59 drubbing. Anu Mohandas scored a team-high 18 points for Kerala Police.

Now, Customs and Central Excise, a Kochi-based side, will represent Kerala at the All-India Federation Cup Championship, which is set to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi itself.