Thiruvanthapuram (Women) and Ernakulum (Men) retain their titles at 59th Kerala State Basketball Championship

After six days of intense basketball action at the 59th Kerala State Basketball Championship for Men and Women in Aluva, the cream rose to the top once again. On the tournament's exciting final day at Aluva's temporarily-built Carmel Club indoor stadium, the reigning champs from last year - Thiruvanathapuram (Women) and Ernakulum (Men) - both defended their crowns to lift the Kerala state titles.

Thiruvanathapuram's Women's side were led by Indian international Jeena PS as well as rising star Stephy Nixon. After last year's triumph, Thiruvanathapuram met familiar foes in the final once more - Palakkad - marking it the third consecutive year that these two teams had played each other in the tournament's finale. The match was evenly contested in the first quarter but Jeena (23) Grima Merlin Varghese (16) did enough to help Thiruvanathapuram pull away to a massive 47-24 lead. Thiruvanathapuram held on to their comfortable advantage, and despite a 16-point performance by Palakkad's Neenumol PS, went on to win the game 58-47.

The Men's final was also a rematch in it's third year running, between Ernakulum and Thiruvanathapuram, and Ernakulum were bidding to win the contest for the third year in a row. But unlike last year, this was no cakewalk for the holding champs. Boosted by their young talents like Arjun GK (18) and Umesh Krishnan (16), Thiruvanathapuram took an early lead and were up by 38-31 at halftime. But Ernakulum chipped away at the advantage in the second half and made a spectacular fourth quarter comeback to take the lead and secure a 69-62 victory for a three-peat of titles. Shinumon Augustine and Monish Wilson scored 18 and 16 points respectively to help Ernakulum in their triumph.

Thiruvanathapuram's duo of Jeena PS (Women) and Umesh Krishnan (Men) were adjudged to be the best players of the tournament and handed the P S Viswappan Gold Medal. The award of most promising player - named in memorial of P Paremeswaran Pillai - was handed to Thiruvanathapuram's Grima Merlin Varghese (Women) and Ernakulum's Nikhil KR (Men).

This year's Lifetime Achievement award name din honour of PC Thomas (former Coach, international referee, and technical officer of Kerala State Sports Council) was handed by the Kerala Basketball Association to PP Varghese, the secretary of the association, in recognition for his achievement in the field of basketball.

Earlier in the day, Thrissur had no problem dominating Ernakulum en route to a 48-29 victory and the bronze medal in the Women's division. The Men's bronze medal game was won by Kollam, who defeated Palakkad 58-38 behind 16 points each by Rahul Krishnan and SS Deepu. Palakkad's Shabu Kumar also added 16 in the loss.

The best performers of the championship will comprise of the state team to represent Kerala at India's Senior National Basketball Championship.

Kottayam (Boys) & Kozhikode (Girls) win 1st St Joseph's ABCA All Kerala Junior Basketball Tournament

The Amateur Basketball Coaches Association of Kerala (ABCA) organized the 1st ever St. Joseph's ABCA All Kerala Junior Basketball Tournament for boys and girls from April 5-7 at the Sacred Heart CMI Public School, Thevara, Ernakulam. Kottayam (Boys) and Kozhikode (Girls) won their respective finals on Monday, April 7, to lift the inaugural trophies.

Kottayam defeated Thiruvanathapuram 67-58 in the Boys' Final, despite a game-high 20 points by Prem Prakash for the losing side. In the Girls' game, Kozhikode completely dominated Kottayam for an easy 34-16 win.

Sugeeth Nath of Kottayam (Boys) and experienced youngster Elizabeth Hilarious of Kozhikode (Girls) were named the Best Players of the tournament. Amal Anto of Thiruvanthapuram (Boys) and rising star Poojamol KS of Kottayam (Girls) were named the Most Promising players of the tournament.

The winners in both sections received Rs. 5000 cash prize while the runners-up were handed Rs. 3000 each.

Ernakulum (Boys) and Kollam (Girls) finished at third place for their sections.

37th Kerala State Junior (U18) Basketball Championship to tip off at Kurivilangad today

The 37th Kerala State Basketball Championship for Junior Men and Women (under 18) will tips off today at the St Mary’s Boys High School at Kuravilangad. The championship will be held from May 14-19 and organized by the Kuravilngad Basketball Club under the auspicious of Kottayam District Basketball Association.

14 Boys' teams and 12 Girls' teams will be taking part in this six-day championship, which will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis. The Championship will help to pick Kerala's representative teams for the National Junior Basketball Championship, which will be held in Bhubaneswar (Orissa) in September.

Kottayam (Boys) and Kollam (Girls) are the tournament's defending champions.

Groupings

Men

Group A: Kottayam, KozhikodeThrissur, Kasargod

Group B: Ernakulam, Alapuzha, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvanathapuram

Group C: Wayanad, Idukki, Kollam

Group D: Kannur, Malapuram, Palakkad

Women

Group A: Kollam, Alapuzha, Palakkad

Group B: Kannur, Thiruvanthapuram, Wayanad

Group C: Thrissur, Ernakulum, Kasargod

Group D: Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malapuram

Ernakulum (Men) & Palakkad (Women) win 57th Kerala State Basketball Championship

Riding on with their newly recruited players from Kerala Police, the Palakkad Women's team took their first ever Gold at the 57th Kerala State Senior Basketball Championship at the Govt Higher Secondary school at Manjeri. Ernakulum Men dethroned defending Champion Thiruvanthapuram to take the Men's title.

In an exciting final Palakkad took their maiden title as they beat Thiruvanthapuram, who were represented by members of Kerala State Electricity Board, 57-51. Neenumol PS and Surya PR top scored with 18 points each for the winners.

In the Men's battle, Ernakulum - comprised of players from Central Excise, Kochi - had to fight hard to beat Thiruvanthapuram 66-54. Ernakulum had a close 33-29 lead at half time. Monish Wilson came up with 17 points for the winners. Eudric Pereira had 15 points for Thiruvanthapuram.

In the Women's 3/4th place game, Kannur Defeated Thrissur 66-40 with their prolific scorer Jeena PS scoring 35 points. Pathanamthitta Men took the third spot after defeating Kollam 69-48.

The Kerala Basketball Association felicitated the members and coaches of Kerala teams which won the titles in the National school Games and National Youth Championship.

Awards were also distributed to individual players from the State rewarding their performances through the year. Eudrick Pereira and Neenumol PS won the P S Viswappan Memorial Gold Medal for the best player. Basil Phillip and Poojamol KS were given the Parmeswaran Pillai Memorial Cash award.

Thiruvanathapuram Men & Kannur Women win the Kerala State Basketball Championship

Reigning Champions Thiruvanthapuram had mixed luck at the 56th Kerala Senior State Basketball Championship in Wayanad on Friday: Thiruvanathapuram Men defeated Ernakulum 62-59 to win the final, while the younger Kannur outfit defeated Thiruvanathapuram's experienced women's side 67-48 to lift the women's title.

With 21 points, Ajeeth Sugunan was the high-man in the Men's final for Thirvanathpuram in the close final. Manoj R added 16 to keep his Ernakulum side in the race for the title till the very end.

In the Women's final, young star PS Neenumol had 20 points for the winning Kannur side, cancelling out 16 by SS Anjanna of Thiruvanathpuram.

Thiruvanathapuram's Men had qualified for the final showcase after rushing past Thrissur in their semi-final match-up. Ernakulum had defeated Pathanamthitta in their semi. Earlier in the Women's Semi-Finals Kannur defeated Kollam while Thiruvanthapuram defeated Kottayam.

Pathanamthitta Men and Kollam Women took the Bronze medals at the championship, as Pathanamthitta beat Thrissur (49-34) and Kollam beat Kottayam (63-51) in their respective third/fourth place games.

Final Scores

Men: Thiruvanthapuram (Ajeeth Sugunan 21, Vijbivakkachan 14) 60 bt. Ernkuluum (Manoj R 16) 55.

Women: Kannur (PS Neenumol 20, PR Surya 14, Jeena PS 13) 68 bt. Thiruvanathapuram (SS Anjanna 16, Seena Joseph 14) 47.

Kerala's young starlets honoured

Kerala's youth and junior girls have had a memorable year in hoops, becoming a powerhouse. in women's basketball in the country. Earlier in the Kerala State Championship, Kerala's winning teams in several annual national-level basketball championships were felicitated at the tournament in Wayanad.

In the past year, Kerala's Under 17 Girls team won the School National Championship in Rajasthan, Kerala U18 Girls' team went undefeated to win the Junior National Championship in New Delhi, and Kerala's U16 (Youth) side won the Youth National Championship in Nagpur.

Perhaps the most talented amongst the youngsters in the past year was 17-year-old Jeena PS. Hailing from Padinjarathara, in the Wayanad District of Kerala, the five-foot-ten inch post player has been the chief force behind Kerala’s recent success in the Youth and the Junior level. Jeena was part of the side that won both the Youth and the Junior championships last year, and was the best player at this year’s Junior Nationals as Kerala won the tournament again. She is one of the best Junior rebounders in India, and holds her own when playing with the Seniors, too. Jeena also represented India in the first ever FIBA 3x3 Championship in Rimini in Italy. In the Junior Nationals, Jeena scored a high of 40 points in the first game against Punjab. She had 33 points and 29 rebounds in an emotional, overttime Semi-Final win against Chhattisgarh, and notched 17 points and 17 rebounds in the Final win against Tamil Nadu. Over the course of the tournament, she averaged 24.3 points per game.

Another young star for Kerala is Poojamol KS, 15, who is quickly becoming the young face of Kerala hoops. Pooja is a versatile, do-it-all player, as capable of running the break on offense as she is of grabbing crucial offensive rebounds in the post. She was the best player in the Nagpur Youth Nationals, topping her performance with 40 points and 13 rebounds in the final. As a younger member in the Junior squad, she was still good enough to play a starring role in the team’s starting five. She also grabbed the 'Best Player' award at the School Nationals.

Besides these two, Kerala’s Junior side boasts of several other extraordinary young talents, such as Elizabeth Hillarios, Premi P Lal, Surya PR, Anjana PG and Aswathy S Thampy.

The Coaches who helped these teams were also Felicitated Coach Jose Philip, Jijon Paul and Biju D Themman.