Aparna Ghosh - Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame

She has dedicated a lifetime to the sport of basketball in India, and with the Dhyan Chand Award, been appropriately celebrated for her service. Today, I add the great Aparna Ghosh into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Hailing from Bolpur in West Bengal, Ghosh has been one of the most accomplished players and coaches in Indian basketball, playing for the national team for 16 years and going on to become a highly-successful coach for Indian Railways. Since substituting herself to lead the charge from the coaches' bench, Ghosh has led Indian Railways women to a myriad of success for several years. She currently serves as the Sports Officer at RSPB of the Railway Board.

In 2002, Ghosh was honoured with the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement in sports and games, handed by the Indian government. She is one of only two basketball personalities in India to receive this honour.

Ghosh has also served as part of India's national coaching system, and was the national women's team assistant coach at the 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship. She has served in the organising committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and in the same year was picked to be in a select group of Indian coaches to receive training at the George Mason University in the USA. In 2015, Ghosh was given a lifetime achievement award by the Calcutta Sports Journalist Club.

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

Defending champs start with wins as 64th National Basketball Championship tips off in Delhi

The race to fight for India's most prestigious basketball trophy - the National Basketball Championship - got underway in its 64th iteration at the Thyagaraj Stadium in the capital city of New Delhi from Wednesday, February 26th. The eight-day tournament is set to feature 51 total state/unit teams from across India. On the opening day, defending champions Uttarakhand (Men) and Indian Railways (Women) both started their campaigns with decisive wins.

The All India 64th National Basketball Championship for Men and Women is being organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in conjunction with the Delhi Basketball Association (DBA) and support from IMG-Reliance. At the opening ceremony on Friday, Ajit Mohan Saran, the Secretary of Sports for India's Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, was the chief guest. Neeraj Kansal (Secretary of the Sports Authority of India) and Del Harris (former NBA Coach of the Year) were also present as special guests.

Uttarakhand, the tournament's reigning champs from last year in Ludhiana and featuring some of the best men stars in Indian basketball, opened their title defense with a closely contested victory against Indian Railways. After falling behind by six points at the end of the third quarter, Uttarakhand came charging back with a 29-17 run in the final period to outlast their opponents 68-62. Rising Indian big man Amrit Pal Singh led the way with 25 points for Uttarakhand while experienced guard Riyazuddin added 16. Gagandeep Singh scored 20 to pace Railways.

Last year's Men's finalists Punjab also started off the tournament with championship intentions and put on a fantastic, balanced display to overwhelm Andhra Pradesh en route to a 92-44 win. Punjab started the game on a 27-4 run and never looked back.

Indian Railways women have won the last six National Championships. They continued their form in their first game, capitalizing on a relatively inexperienced West Bengal side early and cruising to a 68-40 win.

Meanwhile, last year's Women's finalists Tamil Nadu crushed Maharashtra, starting the game on a 22-2 first quarter advantage and keeping their opponents under seven points in every quarter there-after. The unstoppable Appoorva Muralinath had 26 points for TN, outscoring Maharashtra all by herself. TN defeated Maharashtra 63-20.

Selected Scores

Men

• Punjab (Ranbir Singh 15, Amripal Singh 14, Gurvinder Singh 14, Jagdeep Singh 14) bt Andhra Pradesh (GV Reddy 13) 92-44 (27-4, 27-22, 21-10, 17-8).
  
• Uttarakhand (Amrit Pal Singh 25, Riyazuddin 16) bt Indian Railways (Gagandeep Singh 20, Prakesh Mishra 10) 68-62 (15-15, 13-11, 11-19, 29-17).
  
• Services (Gopal Ram 17, SM Settu 16, Dalip Kumar 13) bt Rajasthan (Prashant Singh 22, Vinod Kumar 10) 101-57 (19-17, 31-9, 26-14, 25-17).
  

Women

• Delhi (Raspreet Sidhu 22, Prashanti Singh 18) bt Karnataka (Kruthika Lakshman 19, PU Navneetha 13) 77-58 (20-17, 17-16, 23-13, 17-12).
  
• Indian Railways (Anju Lakra 13) bt West Bengal 68-40 (25-16, 12-11, 13-9, 18-4).
  
• Tamil Nadu (Appoorva Muralinath 26, Soniya Joy 14, R. Ramya 14) bt Maharashtra 63-20 (22-2, 18-5, 11-7, 12-6).
  

You can find a daily updates of results from the tournament here.

As mentioned above, former NBA Coach of the Year Del Harris is a special guest at the tournament. Along with India's National Senior Men's team coach Scott Flemming, Harris hosted a training session for attending coaches and players at the Thyagaraj Stadium on Thursday, February 27th.

India's finest next gen ballers show up for 40th Sub-Junior Nationals in Patna

A total of 45 teams representing various Indian states - 24 boys and 21 girls - have descended to Patna (Bihar), to take part in India's top competition for the youngest members of the official basketball fraternity. The 40th Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship for boys and girls - featuring the country's finest under-14 players - will be tipping off at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna on August 18th. The tournament, organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in collaboration with the newly affiliated Bihar Basketball Association, will be held until August 25th.

The tournament's holding champions - West Bengal Boys and Chattisgarh Girls who won last year's championship in Goa - will be back to try and defend their titles this year.

While most of the matches will be held at the indoor courts at the Paltiputra Sports Complex, a few games have also been scheduled at the Bihar Military Police outdoor courts.

Here is the full list of participating teams in their groups:

Boys

Level 1
Group A: West Bengal, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu.
Group B: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand.
Level 2
Group C: Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh.
Group D: Kerala, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir.
Group E: Odisha, Chandigarh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand.
Group F: Bihar, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura.

Girls

Level 1
Group A: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand.
Group B: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab.
Level 2
Group C: West Bengal, Chandigarh, Delhi.
Group D: Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan.
Group E: Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir.

Anticipating a successful tournament ahead, the BFI's CEO, Roopam Sharma, said: "The BFI is thankful to the Bihar Basketball Association for rendering their support in organizing and hosting the event. With the popularity of the sport growing in leaps and bounds, I am certain that this tournament will showcase competitive games and a pool of young talented players.”

Click here for the full list of fixtures at the championship.

Delhi (Boys) & Kerala (Girls) win 2013 Youth National Basketball Championship in Kolkata

Kerala Girls continue their stronghold on the Youth (under-16) division of basketball in India, winning their fourth consecutive Youth National title in Kolkata on Tuesday evening after a blowout Final victory over Tamil Nadu. Kerala’s victory was followed by a heart-stopping finale for the boys’, as Delhi survived a furious comeback from Rajasthan to win the title.

The 30th Youth (U16) National Basketball Championships for Boys and Girls saw 25 boys’ and 24 girls’ teams from all across India descend to Kolkata (West Bengal) for the scintillating eight-day tournament, which concluded on May 7th. The tournament was organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the West Bengal Basketball Association (WBBA).

It was another night of celebration for Kerala’s Girls’ squad, who are seemingly unbeatable at this level of the game in India. They won all seven games in this tournament behind consistent play by Nimmy Mathew, Mayukha KJ, and the rest. In the final, Kerala came storming out the gate in the first quarter against neighbours Tamil Nadu and kept building on that advantage to post a mammoth win of 83-47. Mayukha led the balanced Kerala scoring attack with 17 points in the Final. V Rachel had 17 points for TN.

The boys’ final upped the ante as the two finalists – Delhi and Rajasthan – fought each other till the very end. The game was tied at the end of the first quarter and Delhi held a slim three-point lead at halftime. A strong defensive third quarter saw Delhi extend that lead to nine, but Rajasthan came storming back in the fourth to outscore Delhi 23-16. In the end, the boys from the nation’s capital survived to win their second title in three years, 79-77. Sunil (27) and Bitto (23) led the way for Delhi, surviving a dominant performance by Rajasthan’s Mahipal Singh (30 – the leading scorer in the tournament – and Yogesh Kaneriya (16).

The third and fourth place matchups were also held on Tuesday. In the Boys’ game, Rahul Mehla (26), Prabhnoor Singh (19) and Jaipal (17) led the way in a blowout win over Haryana, who were led by Sonu Kumar (16). In the Girls’ game, Riya Verma (28) and Divya P (26) were the stars for Chhattisgarh who defeated Karnataka 82-73, despite the best efforts of rising young star Lopamudra TK (34) and Bhandavya HM (28).

The Semi-Finals of the tournament were held on Monday evening. In the Boys’ game, Sunil had 27 points for Delhi’s high-scoring 86-74 win against Haryana. Arjun Pandit (16) and Shon Suresh Kalangutkar (16) added to Delhi’s score, while Naveen Sheokand had 22 for Haryana. In the second’s Men’s Semi-Final, Rajasthan were led by their unstoppable duo of Mahipal Singh (33) and Akhilesh Kumar (30) as they defeated Punjab 92-82. Prabhnoor Singh (21) and Rahul Mehta (21) led the way for the losing side.

Kerala played in a high-scoring Semi-Final against Karnataka, winning 81-70. They fell back in the first quarter but bounced back with a strong 25-7 run in the second. Mayukha KT had 29 points, Vimmy Varkey had 17, and India Nelson had 16. Bhandavya HM scored 26 for the losing side. Y. Srividhya had 23 points to lead Tamil Nadu in the 68-51 win in the second semi-final over Chhattisgarh. Riya Verma led Chhattisgarh with 18.

Final Scores

Boys: Delhi (Sunil 27, Bitto 23, Vishal Gupta 14) bt. Rajasthan (Mahipal Singh 30, Yogesh Kaneriya 16, Akhilesh Kumar 15) 79-77 (18-18, 26-23, 19-13, 16-23).

Girls: Kerala (Mayukha KJ 17, Nimmy Matthew 15, Aneeta PV 15, India Nelson 15, Vimmy Varkey 13) bt. Tamil Nadu (V. Rachel 17) 83-47 (26-17, 20-16, 20-7, 17-7).

Third/Fourth Place Matchups

Boys: Punjab (Rahul Mehla 26, Prabhnoor Singh 19, Jaipal 17) bt. Haryana (Sonu Kumar 16) 93-47 (21-5, 26-8, 24-18, 22-16).

Girls: Chhattisgarh (Riya Verma 28, Divya P 26, Vandana Ariya 14) bt. Karnataka (Lopamudra TK 34, Bhandavya HM 28) 82-73 (24-19, 20-15, 21-19, 17-20).

Final Standings

Boys

1. Delhi
2. Rajasthan
3. Punjab
4. Haryana
5. Maharashtra

Girls

1. Kerala
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Chhattisgarh
4. Karnataka
5. Maharashtra

30th Youth (U16) National Basketball Championships tip off in Kolkata

25 boys’ and 24 girls’ teams from different states from all across India have descended in Kolkata (West Bengal) to take part in India’s 30th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls. Organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the West Bengal Basketball Association (WBBA), the tournament is being held from April 30th to May 7th at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.

The championship will feature the best under-16 up-and-coming players from across India. Their performances will determine the best of the lot to be chosen for India national camps to build the roster for India’s U16 teams for FIBA Asia U16 Championships in both boys’ and girls’ divisions later this year.

All eyes will be on the girls’ squad from Kerala, who have won the Youth Nationals for the past three years, including last year’s tournament in Indore. Madhya Pradesh boys’ also won last year’s championships and will be looking to defend their title this time around.

Here is the full list and groupings of participating teams in this year’s tournament.

Boys

Level 1

• Group A: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala.
• Group B: Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha.

Level 2

• Group C: Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir.
• Group D: Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, West Bengal.
• Group E: Karnataka, Chandigarh, Manipur, Tripura.
• Group F: Uttarakhand, Bihar, Mizoram, Puducherry.

Girls

Level 1

• Group A: Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka.
• Group B: Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh.

Level 2

• Group C: West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand.
• Group D: Haryana, Gujarat, Manipur.
• Group E: Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Orissa, Uttarakhand.
• Group F: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Puducherry, Tripura.

The championship will be held in league-cum-knockout basis. The finals are scheduled for May 7th. Prize money will be awarded to top three teams in both boys and girls divisions as winners take home Rs 75,000, runners-up Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 for third place.

Check out the complete schedule and stay connected with the results from the tournament via the BFI website.

West Bengal Boys & Chhattisgarh Girls lift 39th Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship in Goa

By the time the whistle rang for the final time on Saturday evening at Salcete, Goa, the assembled basketball fans had witnessed two opposite spectrums of a sports-lovers experience. On one hand was the Chhattisgarh Girls team, steamrolling through competition as the perennial favourites, and not letting down their fans by winning an incredible 11th consecutive title. On the other hand were the West Bengal Boys, a team from a state who has been underwhelming in Indian basketball for far too long, who completed their Cinderella Story with a fairytale run through the tournament and to lift the trophy as underdogs.

Click here to read full article

Jharkhand Men & West Bengal Women win the East Zone Basketball Championship

The East Zone Basketball Championship for Men & Women, held from January 4-7, 2012 at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, came to a conclusion on last Sunday with hosts Jharkhand winning the Men's title while West Bengal taking home the Women's championship.

A total of seven Men's and three Women's sides had taken part in this four-day tournament. Both the finals came down to the wire with thrilling games on Sunday evening: West Bengal Women defeated Uttar Pradesh in the final game 44-40. UP's Men's team also reached the final, but was defeated in a close game by the hosts Jharkhand, 48-46.

Earlier, in the 3rd/4th place games, Jharkhand Women beat Orissa 47-36 and Orissa Men beat West Bengal 65-44.

The team's that took part in the competition were:

Men: Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand.
Women: Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand.