After 11 days of thrilling hoops action, the Andheri Invitational Tournament concluded on Sunday the 1st of May with the Central Railway team beating Maharashtra State Police 75-61 in the final game, which was held at the Andheri YMCA court. Sharp-shooter Amit Gahlot led Central Railway with 34 points in the final. The most valuable player of the tournament award was shared by Gahlot and Mahesh Nagne of MS Police. Central Railway won the prize money of 25,000 rupees while the runners-up MS Police got Rs. 15,000.
Competitions were held in four categories: Men, Boys U-18, Girls U-13, and Boys U-13. The final results were:
Boys U-18: Mastan YMCA beat Indian Gymkhana 66-56
Girls U-13: Vidya Niketan Dombivli beat St. Anthony, Chembur 25-14
Boys U-13: Mastan YMCA beat Ghatkopar YMCA 35-15
Another highlight of the final day of the tournament was the Master's Basketball Match, which featured celebrities, coaches, and Indian basketball legends in our own Indian watered-out but super-competitive version of an All Star Game. The game was held on May 1st, and featured some of the best former basketball talents in the country in the two teams, which were creatively named The Greens and The Blues. The game ended in a 41-41 draw at the end of full time, but instead of an overtime period, there was a surprisingly wierd, penalty shoot-out style, free throw shoot-out, which also ended 2-2. So the game was declared a tie. A tie. In Basketball. Ya, I know...
The Greens, led by Abbas Moontasir, and served well by Clarence Menezes, Jayasankar Menon, Riyaz Ahmed, Bollywood actor Neetu Chandra, Troy Justice, director of development, NBA-India, and Crispino D’Souza, seemed to be running away from the match from the Blues, before Abdul Hamid, Rajesh Srivastava, Haneef Patel and Manoj Tripathi got into the act to make a late surge and level scores at 41-41 at the end of full time.
After a free throw shoot out between the two captains Moontasir and Ghulam Rasool also ended in a 2-2 tie at the end of three throws the match was declared a tie.
All scorers were led by Bollwood star, hoops enthusiast, Taikwondo black belt, and overall superhot chick Neetu Chandra, who scored 15 points. Basketball in India has never looked better.
Congrats Central Railway, and to all the participants of this basketball carnival.
