ONGC (Men), Southern Railway (Women) defend titles at 2014 Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament

Coming into the 17th edition of the All India Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament (AIAMBT) as holders, ONGC (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) defending their titles in style, leading their respective Finals end to end for comfortable victories. The five day tournament - which tipped off in Jaipur (Rajasthan) on April 9 - concluded with the Finals featuring some of India's top basketball players on Sunday, April 13, 2014.

Southern Railway (Women), who comprise of several players from the Indian Railways squad, got a measure of revenge against Chhattisgarh's South East Central Railway (SECR - from Bilaspur) with a comfortable 75-47 win in the Final. Last month, many of the SECR players made up the Chhattisgarh squad that shocked Indian Railways in the Final of the Indian National championship. At the AIAMBT Finals, Anitha Paul Durai was the star for Southern Railway, scoring 18 points - all from the three-point line - to lead all scorers en route Southern Railways' victory.

Photo Courtesy: Ekalavyas

The Men's game which followed was a relatively tighter affair between ONGC and Indian Air Force (IAF). IAF had no answers for the outside shooting threat of ONGC veteran Trideep Rai, who led all scorers with 27 points. Young Indian international Amrit Pal Singh added 17 for the victors, as ONGC closed out the game for a 76-61 win.

Southern Railway's Kokila Subramani (Women) and ONGC's Amrit Pal Singh (Men) were named the Most Valuable Players of the tournament.

Both winning teams were awarded Rs. 1 Lakh each while the runners-up won Rs. 50,000 in both divisions.

The AIAMBT was started in the year 1975 as a tribute to the late Principal of MNIT (formerly known as MREC) Professor RM Advani, but is only in its 17th iteration this year. This edition of the tournament featured eight Men's teams and six Women's teams representing as clubs or states. It was also noted by the recap of the tournament on Ekalavyas.com that this tournament is perhaps India’s only senior invitational basketball tournament that is completely managed by students (of MNIT).

All India Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament tips off in Jaipur

Many of the top Men and Women basketball playeres from across India will be in Jaipur (Rajasthan) this week for the 17th edition of the All India Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament (AIAMBT) in the city. The tournament, which is being organized at the Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), tipped off on Wednesday, April 9 and will conclude with the Finals on April 13th. This edition of the tournament will feature eight Men's teams and six Women's teams representing as clubs or states.

The participating teams are: (via Ekalavyas)

Men

Pool A: Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), North Frontier Railways (NFR Guwahati), Punjab, Rajasthan.
Pool B: ONGC, Indian Air Force, South Central Railway (SCR - Secunderabad), Rail Coach Factory (RCF Kapurthala).

Women

Pool A: Southern Railway (Chennai), Eastern Railway (Kolkata), Delhi
Pool B: Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), South East Central Railway (SECR Bilaspur), Rajasthan.

In the Men's section, Punjab (who were finalists at the BFI National Championship last month) and the talented ONGC side will be favourites to take home the title. The Women's fray could see a fight to the finish between the consistently successful Southern Railway side and SECR from Bilaspur, a team that is sure to feature some members of the Chhattisgarh team which upset Indian Railways in the National Championship last month.

Several top Indian stars, such as Geethu Anna Jose, Anju Lakra, Amrit Pal Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Yadwinder Singh, and more are taking part in the tournament.

The AIAMBT was started in the year 1975 as a tribute to the late Principal of MNIT (formerly known as MREC) Professor RM Advani, but is only in its 17th iteration this year. On April 9, at the tournament's opening ceremony, the event was inaugurated by Ajit Mohan Saran (IAS), Scretary Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India and Ajit Kumar Singh (IAS), Principal Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of Rajasthan.

Check out Ekalavyas for results from the first day of games and the schedule ahead.