Junior Nationals: Tamil Nadu boys beat MP to become Junior Champions; Kerala girls win gold again

In front of Delhi’s large hoop-loving audience that collected together to watch India’s best under-18-year-old basketball players at the Thyagraj Stadium on Tuesday, the eight-day long 62nd Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls came to an enthralling end as Tamil Nadu boys and Kerala girls clinched the gold medals.

For Kerala, this win stretched their dominance over the younger-level basketball in India: Kerala have now won the last two Junior Championships as well as the last two Youth Championships. For Tamil Nadu, who ended up as runners-up to Punjab in the tournament last year, the gold medal in Delhi on Tuesday was a fitting way to bury the demons of last year’s final loss.

In the boys Final, Tamil Nadu faced another team who matched them in high-flying athleticism – Madhya Pradesh. TN still took the early initiative, starting the game hot and taking a 13-point lead at the end of the first quarter. TN seemed to be on cruise control for most of the game, and before the start of the final quarter, were still leading by 11, 55-44. But it was here that MP put up one last inspired run and chased TN, making it a 4-point game with just seven minutes to go.

But TN regained their composure, made all the clinical plays in the final stretch of the game, and survived to be crowned champions, 77-64. It was TN’s unselfish ball-movement that saw them hoist the winner’s trophy this year. The final belonged to TN’s Sivabalan S, who was able to forget about the disappointment of 2010 to score 34 points and 11 points. Arvind A hadded 18 points for TN. For MP, it was a disappointing finish to a great tournament – their high-scoring dup of Amit Kanarjee and Siddharth Chouhan played well in a losing effort in the final, scoring 21 and 17 points respectively.

In the earlier Final, Kerala continued their dominance over girls’ basketball in the country by rolling to a comfortable victory over Tamil Nadu. Just two months ago, Poojamol KS scored 40 points in the Final of the Youth Championships in Nagpur to help seal the title for her side. On Tuesday, she again started the game with the fire to give her team the win. After a close first quarter, Kerala began to dominate the second period, turning on their defense, and on the other end, scoring at regular intervals, to secure a massive 18-point lead at the end of the first half.

Tamil Nadu could never recover from this second-quarter debacle: the match was an interesting battle between two talented bigs on each side: Rajapriya Darshini for TN and Jeena PS for Kerala. While Darshini more than held her own (19 points, 9 rebounds), Jeena put up a strong performance too, with 17 points and 17 rebounds, continuing to stake her claim as the best rebounder in the Nationals.

TN failed to make up the deficit in the second half, as Kerala’s Surya PR continued her consistent play all championship to put up 28 points. Poojamol ended with a dominant 25 points to go with 15 rebounds. When the final buzzer sounded, Kerala celebrated, having cruised to a 83-67 victory.

Earlier in the day, Punjab Boys beat Chhattisgarh 78-62 to win the third-place playoff, behind Loveneet Singh (23) and Baljeet Singh (16). For Chhattisgarh, B. Dinesh scored 26 points. In the girls’ third-place playoff, Chhattigarh beat Karnataka to claim the bronze medal in a close game, winning by 78-76. Anjana Ekka (24), A. Kavita (17), and Sagarika (16) were the leading scorers for Chhattisgarh. For Karnataka, Navaneetha scored 27 and Simonelle added 20.

RS Gill, the president of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), Harish Sharma, the CEO of the BFI, Ajay Sud, the BFI’s Secretary General, and Bobby Sharma, the Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, Basketball for IMG Worldwide, were amongst the various dignitaries present at the Finals.

The winning teams in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions were rewarded with a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000. The runners-up were handed Rs. 50,000, and third-place received Rs. 25,000.

Final Scores

Girls: Kerala (Surya PR 28, Poojamol KS 26, Jeena PS 17, PG Anjana 10) bt. Tamil Nadu (Rajapriya Dharshini 19, Suganya L 11, Ramya R 10) 83-67 (22-20, 27-11, 24-19, 10-17).

Boys: Tamil Nadu (Sivabalan S 34, Arvind A. 18, Kasi Ranjan M. 14) bt. Madhya Pradesh (Amit Kanarjee 21, Siddharth Chouhan 17) 77-64 (24-11, 20-22, 11-11, 22-20).

3rd/4th Place Playoff

Girls: Chhattisgarh (Anjana Ekka 24, A. Kavita 17, Sagarika 16) bt. Karnataka (Navaneetha 27, Simonelle 20, Sagarika 13) 78-76 (20-19, 14-16, 34-19, 10-22).

Boys: Punjab (Loveneet Singh 23, Baljeet Singh 16, Manpreet Singh 12, Gauravdeep Singh 10) bt. Chhattisgarh (B. Dinesh 26, Ajay Pratap Singh 15) 78-62 (20-12, 15-12, 26-16, 17-22).

Delhi Boys; Kerala Girls become 2011 Youth Champions

On an evening where India’s best young basketball talent competed against each other to win the top prize, the real winner was the spectacle basketball. The Finals of the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls were held at Divisional Sports Complex at Nagpur (Maharashtra) on Thursday – in both the boys’ and girls’ Finals, each team saved its best defense for last. The boys from the capital side Delhi used their length to snuff out a strong Madhya Pradesh side to lift the title. In the girls’ section, last year’s youth winners Kerala continued their hot streak, going undefeated in this year’s edition and beating a strong Chhattisgarh side in the final to become repeat champions.

The Boys Final was a defensive juggernaut, as both teams played their toughest defense to deny their opponents from getting any shots at the basket. Both teams were quick and athletic, but baskets weren’t coming easy for anyone. Delhi led most of the way though, especially behind the rare combination of skill and size shown by Pradeep Kumar. MP committed too many turnovers as Delhi took a big lead – MP attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter, even making it a three point game with just 5:24 left on the clock, but Delhi regrouped well after a timeout and enjoyed their best offense in the tournament’s last five minutes, cruising to a 58-47 win.

Neither side was spectacular from the field, as MP shot 26 percent, and the winners, Delhi, just 21 percent. But Delhi’s players, led by Akimjeet Singh, did an incredible job attacking the basket, winning fouls and getting to the free throw line. The 17-5 difference in free throws made was also the difference maker between the two teams.

“We prepared for this tournament one day at a time,” said jubilant Delhi coach JN Nehra, “We studied the strategy and playing style of each opponent that we faced, and we prepared for each one differently. That helped us get to the top.”

There was no stopping Kerala as they out-dueled Chhattisgarh in an entertaining Girls’ final. Poojamol KS, who had been Kerala’s best player all tournament, put up her best performance in the Final, putting in 40 points and grabbing 13 rebounds – her opposite number, Anjana Ekka of Chhattisgarh, also gave a tough fight, scoring 37 points to go with 13 rebounds and game-high 6 blocks.

The Girls’ final started slowly, but Chhattisgarh quickly took control of the game. Kerala boasted of several long and athletic players, but they ran into a big roadblock as Chhattisgarh’s 6 foot 6 inch Centre Poonam Chaturvedi guarded the post. But Poojamal was too swift for even Chhattisgarh’s defense, and she shot a high percentage en-route to her 40 point night. Kerala did a great job in combating Chhattisgarh’s size with speed.

The game was reminiscent of Chhattisgarh’s semi-final with Maharashtra, where they came back big in the second half for a close win. It was a different story in the Final: Kerala continued to play well in the second, isolating Anjana Ekka who was on a shooting spree for Chhatisgarh. Poojamal and the rest of Kerala went blow for blow with Anjana, and in the end, there would be no comeback as Kerala won 70-61.

“I was very confident about this game,” Poojamal exclaimed after clinching the title for her side, “Our team had a lot of practice before this tournament to deal with pressure situations such as this final, and I was ready tonight. I am very happy about winning this championship and it is a great achievement for the state of Kerala.”

Mr. Harish Sharma, CEO of the BFI, congratulated all the players who participated in he championship, and added, "I'm proud of these young stars, they have worked hard for this achievement and I hope that they will have a great future. Basketball in India is at a turning point and it will be these young players who will lead the way in the coming years."

Earlier in the day, the host Maharashtra side, whose boys’ and girls’ teams had both lost at the Semi-Final stage, played in the third-place playoff matches. Maharashtra Boys faced a motivated Chhattisgarh, who led the game from start to end for a comfortable 73-56 win. Akash Bhasin, one of the tournament’s best scorers, had 32 points for Chhattisgarh, while T. Shantanu paced Maharashtra with 26.

In the Girls’ playoff, the highly-touted Maharashtra team shrugged off the disappointing semi-final loss to Chhattisgarh from a day earlier and won a highly-competitive game against the speedy girls from Haryana. Haryana Girls, one of the stories of the tournament, stayed neck to neck with Maharashtra throughout the game. In the third, Maharashtra finally opened up a big lead as their stars Shireen Limaye (17 points) and Shruti Menon (16) began to click. Haryana’s fourth quarter comeback wasn’t enough as they lost 70-63. Rimpy Hooda had 21 points for Haryana and Bharti Sihag added 18.

Final Scores

Boys: Delhi (Akimjeet Singh 16, Pradeep Kumar 15, Pankaj Rathi 15) bt. Madhya Pradesh (Shivam Mishra 23) 58-47 (14-9, 13-9, 7-13, 24-16).

Girls: Kerala (Poojamol KS 40, Arthy Vimal 12) bt. Chhattisgarh (Anjana Ekka 37) 70-61 (16-21, 9-15, 20-16, 16-18).

3rd/4th Place Playoffs

Boys: Chhattisgarh (Akash Basin 32, Saif Hashmi 10, M. David Boon 10) bt. Maharashtra (T. Shantanu 26, Rohan Ramesh 11) 73-56 (21-16, 19-15, 16-12, 17-13).

Girls: Maharashtra (Shireen Limaye 17, Sruthi Menon 16, Ishwari Pingle 11, Kritika Divadkar 11) bt. Haryana (Rimpy Hooda 21, Bharti Sihag 18, Monika Vats 11) 70-63 (23-21, 14-12, 22-12, 11-18).

Chhattisgarh star Anju Lakra set to defend her home ground in the Federation Cup

With the Indian basketball fraternity focusing more and more towards the youth and the future of the game, 27-year-old Anju Lakra became an outcast to the system. After being part of several senior teams, including the FIBA Asia Basketball Championships (ABC) for Women in Chennai in 2009, Anju was snubbed from the side when selections were made for India’s first ever appearance in the Asian Games in Guangzhou after a 28-year-gap.

But with age comes maturity: Anju, who has been playing the game for 15 years now, has taken the snub as a motivation to make it to the biggest stage again. “Maybe this time I wasn’t good enough for the team, but the Asian Games will take place again in four years, and now, I will be aiming for them,” she said. With the next edition of the ABC to take place in August this year, Anju also wishes to get a call-up to the camp for the squad that will head to Japan.

Back in domestic action though, Anju continued her Midas touch with the game this year: she was part of the Indian Railways side that again won the National Championship in Delhi last month, and towards the end of January, she carried her home state Chhattisgarh to the final of the Savio Cup in Mumbai, only to lose in the final to Southern Railway. For her extraordinary efforts in the tournament, Anju was named the Savio Cup’s Best Women Player.

Anju had a curious start to basketball – back at age 11, the tomboy approached her PT teacher at her school in Billai, hoping to get a chance to learn Hockey. The PT teacher recommended Anju towards Handball instead. It was her another year of learning Handball in her school until one day, Chhattisgarh Basketball’s Secretary Rajesh Patel spotted her playing. “You should try basketball,” he suggested.

And Anju was hooked.

Patel has a formidable reputation for building basketball in Chhattisgarh - Around 120 players have received training from him and received government jobs under sports quota. He has been the coach of the Indian Junior and Youth women basketball teams and 25 players trained by him have represented the Indian national team.

Luckily for Anju, she wisely took up his suggestion and shifted sports. Back then, before the formation of Chhattisgarh as a separate state, Anju played at the Sub-Junior and Youth level for the Madhya Pradesh side. When asked if it was strange to separate into a new state in 2000, Anju replied that on the contrary, it was a positive thing. “We had so many good players from the Chhattisgarh area who couldn’t make it to the talented MP side back then,” she said, “When Chhattisgarh was formed, I was happy that so many other players who were playing with me in Billai got a chance to represent the state.”

And in less than a year, Anju was back playing National Basketball – this time for Chhattisgarh, and in the Women’s Festival in Haldia, West Bengal. It didn’t take long for her to face her former teammates and her former state when Chhattisgarh faced MP in the third place playoff of the tournament. Anju and Chhattisgarh prevailed. “It was very exciting to play them and beat them for the first time!” she said.

Since her youth, Anju has been a mark of consistency, and a model for many young girls out of Chhattisgarh hoping to choose basketball as a way forward. She played her first game for India in the Junior ABC in New Delhi in 2000. Her first Senior call-up came a year later for the ABC in Bangkok. She played in more major tournaments, including the Senior ABC in 2005 and the ABC back home in Chennai, 2009.

Her versatile skills and ability to lead on court has made her a valuable asset to whoever she has represented – be it Indian Railways or Chhattisgarh. Anju is a 5 foot 4 forward, equally adept at playing as a playmaker and a scorer, although the strongest part of her game is definitely her accuracy from the long range.

Chhattisgarh lost to Southern Railway in the final of the Savio Cup, where Anju had to face several of her Indian Railways opponents like legendary Center Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Pau Durai. “We have been going to the Savio Cup a lot and performing well – but to beat Southern Railway, we have to find a way of stopping Geethu,” Anju admits, “We can match up to them in other ways but still don’t have that size. It will take a couple more years before we can develop some talented tall girls to represent Chhattisgarh.”

“For now, our tactic is to try and outrun our opponent to score,” she said, “I have been playing well offensively, but whenever you focus too much on offense, your defense suffers. This is an area of my game which I feel needs the most improvement.”

Next up on Anju’s plate will be protecting her home turf, as the 25th Federation Cup, featuring the best eight teams from last year’s National Championship, is set to take place in Chhattisgarh from 10-15th of February. It will be a chance for Chhattisgarh and Anju to get immediate retribution from their rivals. “We will be playing on our home court,” Anju said, “So we will be extra motivated to play harder. Our main rivals are Indian Railways and Delhi, and these are the two teams that we have to keep our eye on.”

Even after 15 years in the game, Anju still remains hungry for more success in basketball and continues to dominate, especially since her performances at the Savio Cup. She credits everything to the game for helping her become who she is. “It is basketball that has brought me here,” she says, “In basketball, I have found a place where I can clear my mind. As I’ve grown with the game, I have become more independent and confident.”

“Every time I’m on a basketball court I have felt a great, family atmosphere,” she added, “All the coaches I have worked with have been supportive and helped me improve. That is why this game is so important.”

With no shortage of confidence and motivate, Anju will definitely be one to watch once the Federation Cup tips off in Raipur next week!

Punjab, Kerela win National Youth Championships

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The future Indian basketball stars showed their talents when the 27th National Youth Championships (for Boys and Girls) were held at Tiruchirappalli (or Tiruchi for the lazy) in Tamil Nadu from June 1-8th. The teams from Punjab and Kerela won the competition in the boys' and girls' divisions respectively.

In the Girls' final on the 8th, the youngsters from Kerela destroyed the Uttar Pradesh team by 35 points, 84-49, to win the title. Star players Jeena (29 points) and Anjana (24 points) led the way for Kerela, while playing some stifling defense on UP starlet Dhriti Arora. UP were led by 24 points from Preeti Kumari.

In the boys final, a balanced Punjab side, led by 13 points from Harmandeep played some good defense against the surprising finalists from Chhatisgarh. Punjab beat Chhatisgarh 64-42 - Chhattisgarh's leading scorer in the final was Murali with 15 points.

Chhattisgarh had entered this stage of the tournament by beating the hosts Tamil Nadu in a close semi-final, 69-67. Punjab had earlier defeated Madhya Pradesh in their semi. In the girls' semi-finals, Kerela had defeated Maharahstra and hosts Tamil Nadu were beaten by Uttar Pradesh.

The competition is a showcase of the finest Indian youth who are of under-16 level as of January 2010.

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