2015 Federation Cup in Pune: ONGC make it a three-peat of titles, Southern Railway women win gold

ONGC's star-studded squad out of Uttarakhand made it three wins in the last three years as they defeated IOB (Chennai) in a finals rematch of the 29th Federation Cup Basketball Tournament for Men and Women at the Shiv Chhatrapati Krida Sankul in Mahalunge, Pune (Maharashtra), on Thursday, April 2. The Women's competition at the tournament was held in round-robin fashion and it was Southern Railway - who finished atop the group standings - and emerged as winners.

The Federation Cup pits India's most successful recent clubs or states against each other. In the Men's division, the participating teams were chosen from the eight best club sides from India's top ranking states in the previous National Basketball Championship, while the Women's teams were represented by the eight top rankings states or railway units themselves. The 29th Federation Cup, organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA) and Pune District Basketball Association, tipped off on March 29.

In a rematch of last year's men's final, ONGC easily fought off their rivals IOB en route to a 71-50 win. India's national team big man Amrit Pal Singh came up huge for ONGC with 20 points. The Uttarakhand-based held a small 34-28 advantage at halftime, but turned up the gears after the break to outscore IOB by 15 in the final two quarters of the game.

The Third Place game for Men was won by Indian Army, who were led by the high-scoring duo of A Gopal (25) and Jai Ram Jat (22) in a 61-53 victory over Punjab Police.

The Women's division was held in a round-robin league fashion only. Southern Railway needed a victory on the final day to secure their lead and end the tournament as champions, and they delivered in style, thumping Chhattisgarh 87-56 in their last game. Kerala secured the Women's silver medal with a dominant 74-29 win over Delhi.

Scores

• Men's Final: ONGC (Amrit Pal Singh 20, Vishesh Briguvanshi 13) bt. IOB (Amjyot Singh 14) 71-50 (21-13, 13-15, 25-16, 12-6).
  
• Third Place: Indian Army (A Gopal 25, Jayram Jat 22) bt. Punjab Police 61-53 (7-19, 23-13, 12-6, 19-15).
  
• Women's Super League: Southern Railway (Alagutamil 15) bt. Chhattisgarh (Sharanjeet Kaur 17, L Deepa 13) 87-56 (18-15, 27-17, 15-16, 27-8).
  
• Women's Super League: Kerala bt. Delhi 74-29 (21-11, 18-10, 16-3, 19-5)
  

Final Standings Men

• 1. ONGC
  
• 2. IOB
  
• 3. Indian Army
  

Women

• 1. Southern Railway
  
• 2. Kerala
  
• 3. Chhattisgarh
  

ONGC's Amrit Pal Singh and Kerala's Jeena PS were named the tournament's Most Valuable Players in the Men's and Women's sections respectively.

The Federation Cup was held in the midst of back-office drama for the BFI, as two different factions called two separate meetings to elect two different executive committees to run the federation. Now, the BFI has two different presidents and the factions are headed for a court-case. At the tournament itself, an official sparked more conflict: Lalit Nahata - organizing secretary of the Federation Cup and joint secretary of the MSBA - insulted India's former captain Riyazuddin of ONGC by putting a dirty mop on his face/shoulders. Several of Riyaz's teammates and players from other teams came to the player's defense immediately. After a near altercation, Nahata first resigned into an office and later came out to apologize to Riyaz and the other players.

There is more than enough drama and excitement on the basketball court in India to keep us entertained, as the Federation Cup proved. In the future, we hope that the drama stays exactly where it belongs, and out of the hands of officials hindering the sport in India.

2015 Federation Cup tips off in Pune today amid BFI political drama

Usually, basketball news is what you receive when you search for news about basketball. Elementary, isn't it? Well, not in India. Embroiled with different factions fighting among each other to gain the control and power that comes with the leadership of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), Indian basketball has taken a backseat to Indian basketball politics. So much so that, the BFI itself seems to have been more interested in promoting their elections on their website rather than promoting the 29th Federation Cup All India Basketball Championship for Men and Women, one of the nation's top state/club level tournaments, which is tipping off in Pune (Maharashtra) today.

To briefly recap the off-the-court drama in recent days, two rebelling factions of the BFI selected two opposing executive committees to run the federation this week: one led by K. Govindraj and Teja Singh Dhaliwal in Bengaluru, the other by Poonam Mahajan and Roopam Sharma in Pune. But if you guys are done with your power-struggles, maybe its time to think about what you're actually fighting for: the basketball.

The Federation Cup pits India's most successful recent clubs or states against each other. Therefore, in the Men's division, the participating teams will be chosen from the eight best club sides from India's top ranking states in the previous National Basketball Championship, while the Women's teams will be represented by the eight top rankings states or railway units themselves. The 29th Federation Cup, organized by the BFI in association with Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA) and Pune District Basketball Association will be held at Shiv Chhatrapati Krida Sankul in Mahalunge, Pune from March 29 - April 2.

ONGC Men - representing Uttarakhand - who have won the last two Federation Cup trophies, will be looking forward to making it a three-peat in Pune this year. Last year's women's winner Chhattisgarh, who are also the two-time reigning national championship winners, will be hoping to retain their trophy, too.

According to an update on Ekalavyas.com yesterday, the tournament will be inaugurated on today by Girish Bapat, Cabinet Minister and BFI's first woman president (or so says one BFI faction) Poonam Mahajan.

BFI's political drama threatens to once again shift the focus and the privileges to the politicians sitting on the sofa rather than the players sweating it out on the court, itself. Hopefully, through the course of the Federation Cup, the country's most talented players are able to remind us why we love the game of basketball. For the actual basketball.