Sankaran Subramanian - Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame

One of the greatest and most influential coaches in Indian basketball history, the late Dr. Sankaran Subramanian is the second inductee into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame. Subramanian passed away in 2013 at age 75, after offering over 40 years to the service of Indian basketball. His legacy is particularly highlighted by his leadership at the Ludhiana Basketball Academy, where he helped nurture dozens of India's best players.

Subramanian was born in Pirancheri village in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He played basketball for his school and college teams and later joined Indian Air Force in the year 1958. He took to coaching after that in 1968, working with the Air Force team and with Services and leading them to wins in several national level tournaments.

From 1968 onwards, he had been thoroughly involved in coaching and developing players in Punjab and for the Indian national team. Subramanian was the coach of the Punjab state team, the director and chief of the Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA) in Punjab and also the director of the National Institute of Sports in Patiala. While head coach of the Punjab State teams from 2000-2013, and led them to an era of great dominance, collecting 14 Gold, 13 Silver and 9 Bronze Medals in Sub-Junior, Youth, Junior and Senior National Championships. Under his tutelage, Punjab's Senior Men's team won the National Championship in 2012 and finished as runners-up in 2013.

A great number of talented stars blossomed under his tutelage, including Arjuna Award winner Manmohan Singh, Paramjit Singh, who represented Indian in the 1980 Olympic Basketball team, and Tarlok Singh Sandhu. Of the current era, Subramanian's LBA produced national players and stars like TJ Sahi, Yadwinder Singh, Jagdeep Singh Bains, Palpreet Singh Brar, Amjyot Singh (NBA G-League), Amrit Pal Singh (NBL Australia), and Satnam Singh Bhamara (first Indian drafted into the NBA). He also trained women's international Kiranjit Kaur. You can read more about Subramanian in my eulogy for him written in 2013.

Click here for more of the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Patiala's Punjabi University crowned 2017 UBAU National University Champions in Chandigarh

India's largest collegiate level basketball tournament - the UBAU All India Inter-Zonal University Basketball Championship for Men 2017 - came to a conclusion in Chandigarh on Tuesday February 21 with Patiala's Punjabi University cruising to an easy victory in the final over Anna University (Chennai). This victory was especially significant to Punjabi University since they weren't even in the top sixteen of the inter-zonal championship last year.

This prestigious Association of Indian Universities (AIU) Championship was organised by Universal Basketball Alliance India Pvt Ltd. The top four teams from each zone - North, South, East, and West - qualify to the inter-zonal championship and are divided into four pools of four teams each. The top two teams from each pool after the league stages qualify to the knockout rounds: quarterfinals, semis, followed by the finals.

Anna had tasted defeat at the final stage of this tournament at the hands of last year's host team Mumbai University. With Punjabi University making the short distance from Patiala to Chandigarh for the tournament, Anna once again faced a team being treated as hosts in the final at the indoor stadium in Sector-42. Behind the efforts of Gurdit Singh (23) and Abhi Kumar (16), Punjabi took a comfortable 41-29 lead at halftime and turned the game into a blowout with a 23-point lead at the end of the third quarter. At the final buzzer, Punjabi University sealed the title victory with a 78-54 rout.

Earlier that evening, New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University were led by an explosive 47-point performance by Bhupender to defeat another Chennai team - the University of Madras - 90-62 and secure third-place at the tournament. Abhudaya scored 16 for Jamia, while Madras were led by Karthik's 18 points.

Tarlok Singh Sandhu, former Olympian and India captain, who represented India at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and 1982 Asian Games was the chief guest for the finale. Other dignitaries included Joseph Damsker, Managing Director, Merchandising – Elite Universal Sports Alliance India Pvt Ltd (EUSAI); Sunday Zeller, co-founder – Universal Basketball Alliance & Elite Sports India Inc.; Riyaz Mulla, Managing Director India operations – ESI; Dr. Raj Kumar, President – EUSAI; Dr. Gurdeep Kaur, Director of Sports – Punjabi University.

Final Four Standings

• 1. Punjabi University
• 2. Anna University
• 3. Jamia Millia Islamia University
• 4. University of Madras

The final 16 teams that participated in the UBAU All India Inter-Zonal University Basketball Championship this year were (several University sent 'A' and 'B' squads:

• Pool A: Punjabi University (Patiala), University of Mumbai (Mumbai), University of Calcutta (Kolkata), University of Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram).
• Pool B: Anna University (Chennai), Durg Vishvidyalya (Durg), Delhi University (New Delhi), Savitri Bai Phule University (Pune).
• Pool C: University of Rajasthan (Jaipur), Panjab University (Chandigarh), SRM University (Chennai), University of Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram).
• Pool D: Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith (Varanasi), University of Madras (Chennai), L.N.I.P.E (Gwalior), Jamia Millia Islamia University (New Delhi).