Madhya Pradesh (Boys) and Kerala (Girls) win 41st Sub Jr National Basketball Championship in Nashik

After winning a memorable double at last year's Sub Junior Nationals, Chhattisgarh's Boys and Girls had a chance to make it a 'double-double' when both teams qualified for the Finals at the tournament in Nashik (Maharashtra) this year. But their opponents had other plans: In two exciting final games at Nashik's Meenathai Thakrey Stadium on Friday, November 28, Madhya Pradesh (Boys) and Kerala (Girls) teams denied a repeat result at India's 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls by bringing back the gold their respective states. The two final games marked an end to the week-long tournament featuring 45 of the best under-14 boys and girls teams from across the country.

The tournament was organized by the Basketball Federation and India (BFI) and IMG Reliance along with the Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA).

The boys final was a rematch between Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh from last year. The two neighbouring states - one born out of the other over a decade ago - played in a tough, defensive final a year ago where Chhattisgarh emerged as winners. This was MP's third consecutive boys' final appearance, and finally, they ended their losing streak at the last stand of this competition with a high-scoring finish. After trailing by 13 in the first quarter, MP responded with a bang in the second and trailed by just three at halftime. Behind scintillating performances by Amit Singh Chouhan (31) and Manish Prasad (19), MP continued at their fast pace to stretch their lead out to a 94-82 win. Salim Ali (26) and Saif Ali Khan (24) were the leading scorers for Chhattisgarh.

The women's final was a meeting of familiar foes - Kerala and Chhattisgarh - two teams that marked the most successful junior girls basketball programmes in the country. Chhattisgarh had won every single girls' Sub-Junior title since 2002, an astonishing twelve titles in a row. But their dominant streak finally came to an end on Friday evening. Led by 36 points and nine rebounds by inspirational captain Sreekala R, Kerala overturned a two-point halftime deficit to charge ahead in the third quarter and hold off Chhattisgarh's comeback attempts in the final period to win 78-72. Despite their success at the youth and junior levels, this was actually Kerala's first Sub-Junior nationals victory in the tournament's 41-year history. For Chhattisgarh, Elizabeth Ekka scored a game-high 37 points while Neha Karva added 17.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards at the championship were handed to Kerala's Sreekala R (Girls) and MP's Mani Thakur (MP).

Earlier on in the day, the girls' bronze-medal game became an epic one-on-one encounter featuring two of the most impressive scoring performances ever seen at the national Sub-Junior level in India. Haryana's Meenu and Uttar Pradesh's Vaishnavi Yadav turned the game into their personal playground. Meenu scored a mammoth 65 points - a tournament high - breaking her own record of a 50-point game in the semi-final loss just a day earlier. In response, Yadav had 57 for UP to keep her side in the game. In a close back-and-forth contest, UP bounced back in the fourth quarter after trailing by five to win the game 98-95. In the boys' bronze game, Kuldeep S scored 21 to help Rajasthan defeat Odisha 73-61. Suresh D had 29 for Odisha in a losing effort.

On Thursday, Haryana's Meenu had taken part in a prior one-on-one duel, this time against the tournament's eventual MVP and champion Sreekala R of Kerala. The first girls' semi-final was held between Kerala and Haryana, which the former won quiet comfortably 96-78 after leading by just one at halftime. Once again, the story of the game however was an individual duel. Sreekala scored 42 to help her team win the match while Meenu poured in 50 in a losing effort. For Kerala, Aparna also added 28 in the win. In the other semi-final, Chhattisgarh defeated UP 73-65 thanks to 22 points by Elizabeth Ekka. Vaishnavi Yadav (34) and Shivangi G (16) were UP's leading scorers.

Eventual boys' winners MP fended off their semi-final challengers Odisha were relative ease, 78-61 behind 22 points by D. Raj and 16 by Harshwardhan. Odisha's best performers were Suresh Das (20) and Suresh (18). Chhattisgarh's duo of Salim Ali (18) and Saif Ali Khan (17) were at their best against Rajasthan in a high-scoring win, 96-85. While Chhattisgarh had a small edge to the game throughout, the single-handed efforts of Kuldeep Singh (36) kept Rajasthan contending till the very end.

Final Scores

• Girls: Kerala (Sreekala R. 36, Aparna Sadasivan 15, Danielie Mathews 13) bt Chhattisgarh (Elizabet Ekka 37, Neha Karva 17) 78-72 (22-18, 13-19, 21-11, 22-24).
  
• Boys: Madhya Pradesh (Amit Singh Chouhan 31, Manish Prasad 19, Mani Thakur 13) bt Chhattisgarh (Salim Ali 26, Saif Ali Khan 24) 94-82 (16-29, 28-18, 25-18, 25-17).
  

Third/Fourth Place Games

• Girls: Uttar Pradesh (Vaishnavi Yadav 57) bt Haryana (Meenu 65) 98-95 (27-27, 13-16, 24-26, 34-26).
  
• Boys: Rajasthan (Kuldeep S. 21) bt Odisha (Suresh Das 29) 73-61 (20-11, 11-10, 20-20, 22-20).
  

Final Standings Girls

• 1. Kerala
  
• 2. Chhattisgarh
  
• 3. Uttar Pradesh
  
• 4. Haryana
  
• 5. Tamil Nadu
  

Boys

• 1. Madhya Pradesh
  
• 2. Chhattisgarh
  
• 3. Rajasthan
  
• 4. Odisha
  
• 5. Haryana
  

Maharashtra State Basketball Association facing protest from district associations

10 district associations in the state of Maharashtra have joined hands to protest against the Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA), requesting for a removal of MSBA officials for causing irregularities, miscommunication, and the misuse of power. The protest was raised by Shatrughan Gokhale, the secretary of the Nagpur District Basketball Association, in an open letter to the MSBA sent via the media. The letter comes out at a curious time, when Maharashtra's Nashik district is hosting the 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship.

In his letter, Gokhale alleges that several MSBA officials have refused to give up their seats long after the mandatory end to their maximum four-year term and not conducted enough management committee meetings in the past year.

Gokhale's district of Nagpur, along with Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Amravati, Yoetmal, Washim, Akola, and Buldhana have joined hands officially in the protest. The letter further states that up to five more districts will be joining the dissenting group over the coming days, and memorandums will be sent to the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Maharashtra Olympic Association (MOA), and the Director of Sports, Pune.

Some excerpts from Gohkale's letter, via Ekalavyas.com

A managing committee meeting is required to decide and conduct the state championships in various age categories, to appoint selection committee and coaches for the national championships, to maintain and pass the regular accounts of association, to discuss and decide on the grievances of players, coaches and various districts and many similar issues.With just two managing committee meetings in its four-year term the MSBA failed to perform the basic responsibility required to run any association.

Our decision to start this drive now is because all the state tournaments being conducted under the banner of MSBA after its term expired in April are unauthorized. Being an affiliated unit we do not have a choice but to play in these unauthorized championships. If we do not participate then our players will be at loss. With no choice left we all decided to start this drive.

Read the full letter here for more of the group's demands to the MSBA.

India's top under-14 state teams head to Nashik (Maharashtra) for 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship

Don't equate India's lack of international basketball success to a lack of potential talent: As some of the top late-bloomers in India have shown, it wasn't their talent which was lacking, it was only their timing. To create a revolution in Indian basketball and produce world-beaters from our country, we have to focus on identifying and training the players with the best upside as early as possible. For about a week in Nashik (Maharashtra), fans will get a chance to see the work put in to hone the craft of the youngest members of the Indian hoops fraternity. The Sub-Junior (Under-14) nationals is the youngest national-level basketball tournament in the country: From November 22-28, Nashik is hosting the 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls. 27 boys' teams and 25 girls' teams gathered for tip off at the Meenathai Thakrey Stadium on Saturday.

The onus will be on Chhattisgarh - champions in both the boys' and girls' divisions at this tournament last year in Patna - to continue their dominating performances this year, too. Chhattisgarh's girls have won every Sub-Jr title since 2002 (12 in a row!), and last year, their boys' team joined in the celebrations, too. Madhya Pradesh will be another team to watch in both divisions while Tamil Nadu (Girls) and Rajasthan (Boys) have enjoyed stellar performances in this competition in the recent past. Hosts Maharashtra will be out to defend their home court, while this tournament will also mark the debut of Telengana - India's newest state born out of northern Andhra Pradesh - at the national basketball level as an independent team.

The tournament is being organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG Reliance in partnership with the Maharashtra Basketball Association.

Participating teams at the 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship

• Boys: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Karnataka, Mizoram, Telengana, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh.
  
• Girls: Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Telengana, Rajasthan, Goa, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Manipur, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Haryana, Gujarat.
  

Chhattisgarh's Boys team opened up their title defense in style on Saturday, taking a 11-point lead at halftime up to a convincing 75-57 victory over the tough Andhra Pradesh squad. Salim Ali was impressive for Chhattisgarh with 27 points in the win. In a battle of the silver and bronze medalists from 2013, Madhya Pradesh used a scintillating fourth quarter to turn a close game into a blowout victory against Rajasthan. Harshwarohan Tomar had 21 for MP, who won 60-40 after a 16-4 run in the final period of the game.

In a girls' contest of two strong neighbouring southern states, Kerala used tough defense to see off Karnataka 49-27. Sreekala R led the way for Kerala with 23 points in the win, nearly single-handedly equaling the total of her opponents. In their first game as an independent state, Telengana Girls maintained a steady lead over Rajasthan en route to a 50-31 win.

Selected Scores

Boys

• Chhattisgarh (Salim Ali 27) bt Andhra Pradesh (S. Syed 14) 75-57 (23-16, 16-12, 25-20, 11-9).
  
• Madhya Pradesh (Harshwarohan Tomar 21) bt Rajasthan 60-40 (12-8, 14-14, 18-14, 16-4).
  
• Odisha (Suresh Das 36) bt Uttar Pradesh 66-58 OT (9-17, 17-6, 22-15, 5-15, 13-5).
  

Girls

• Odisha (Papli Patra 14) bt Uttarakhand 41-25 (14-10, 2-4, 15-6, 10-5).
  
• Telengana bt Rajasthan 50-31 (13-12, 15-9, 13-4, 9-6).
  
• Kerala (Sreekala R 23) bt Karnataka 49-27 (12-8, 10-10, 10-5, 17-4).
  

The finals of the tournament are scheduled to be held on Friday, November 28.