Maharashtra Boys; Chhattisgarh Girls win 2011 Sub Jr. National Basketball Championship

Basketball fans in Lucknow were given a visual treat on Friday evening as the best under-14 teams from around India clashed in the Finals of the 38th Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in the city’s RDSO court. Eight days of exciting hoops action ended in fitting manner as the boys’ final saw Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra fight neck-no-neck in a classic final, which was finally won by Maharashtra. The Girls’ championship was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, and for the seventh consecutive year, it was Chhattisgarh who emerged as Sub Jr champions.

Basketball fans couldn’t have asked for a better final than the face-off between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh Boys, two teams with contrasting but effective styles. The teams stayed close throughout: Andhra Pradesh using taking advantage of their length and speed, while Maharashtra relied on their skill and passing. AP had a slim, one point lead at the end of the half, but couldn’t extend on the advantage: neither side was able to go over more than four point of their opponent for the majority of the game.

With the game reaching its last moments, Maharashtra had overturned the score and had a three point lead in the fourth quarter, thanks to their talented guards who penetrated and passed very well all night. AP made some crucial mistakes in the end, and Maharashtra’s Zaid Shaikh pulled out big, level-headed plays to give his side a 61-58 win and the National championship.

“We had practiced very hard for this championship, and came ready to dominate,” said Shaikh, “We had beaten AP in a blowout early in this championship, so we had to be wary of their backlash tonight. Luckily, we were able to play well in the end and win – our team’s strength was our great combination.”

M. Siva Durga of AP led all scorers in the final with 16 points.

The girls’ final was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Chhattisgarh Girls have been an unstoppable force in the Sub-Junior level, and win another big victory on Friday, won their 10th championship in 11 years. Chhattisgarh, who have been the best team in the competition, were in no mood for a slip-up in the final, as they started strong and refused to slow down against their opponents. Saving their best defensive performance for the finale, Chhattisgarh outscored Karnataka 36-7 in a devastating first half.

Chhattisgarh’s defense focused around stopping Karnataka’s Lopamudra, who had been the best individual player in the girls’ section in the tournament. With Lopa on check, Chhattisgarh were able to cruise in the second half and celebrate their seventh consecutive Sub-Junior national title with a 64-21 victory. Riya Verma led Chhattisgarh in the final with 23 points.

“We are a strong team because we are very united,” said P. Divya, the captain of the Chhattisgarh side, “We were prepared for this team because we had defeated them in the final last year, and in this year’s tournament, we knew that our team was too strong for any opponent.”

Earlier on Friday, the 3rd/4th place games were held: In the boys’ game, Punjab overcame a slow start against Chhattisgarh to make a strong comeback and win 70-47. Punjab were led by Guksewala (21 points) and Abhi (16). For Chhattisgarh, Mithun, who had scored 46 points in a loss to AP in the semi-final only the previous night, led the scoring charge of his team with 18 points in the 3rd/4th place playoff.

In the girls’ game, Maharashtra played a strong second quarter to overturn the score against Kerala and then race to a 48-37 win to clinch third place. Maharashtra were led by Veera who had 16 points.

Mr. V Ramachandran, the Director-General of RDSO, was the chief guest at the final and handed out the prize-winners trophies. “I was very glad to see the talent on display here and wish to see many of these players representing India one day,” said Ramachandran, “My best wishes go out to all those who took part in this championship. I would also like to thank the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), and RDSO for conducting this big event.

For the first time in the Sub-Junior nationals, individual prizes were given for the Most Promising Players of the tournament. With the award, the individual players were also given a cash prize of Rs. 5000 each. The awards were given to:

Boys: M. Shiva Durga (Andhra Pradesh)
Girls: Riya Verma (Chhattisgarh)

Final Scores

Boys: Maharashtra (Shaikh Zaid 13, Astekar Aditya 12, Shaikh Mearaj 11, Shaikh Hammd 11) bt. Andhra Pradesh (M.Siva Durga 16, B.Neeraj Kumar 11, P.Durga Prasad 10) 61-58 (18-15, 13-17, 14-10, 16-16)

Girls: Chhattisgarh (Riya Verma 23, P.Divya 12) bt. Karnataka 64-21 (23-6, 13-1, 7-2, 21-12)

3rd/4th Place Matches

Boys: Punjab (Guksewala 21, Abhi 16, Sukhder 13) bt. Chhattisgarh (Mithun 18, Hitesh 12) 70-47 (10-15, 15-9, 19-9, 26-14)

Girls: Maharashtra (Veera 16) bt. Kerala (Aleena 14) 48-37 (10-12, 12-4, 12-10, 14-11)

Finals Standings

Boys
1. Maharashtra
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Punjab

Girls
1. Chhattisgarh
2. Karnataka
3. Maharashtra

Sub-Jr Nationals: Holders Chhattisgarh start strong in India’s premier U14 national basketball championship

India’s finest under-14 level basketball players, from all four corners of the country, gathered together as the 38th Sub-Jr. National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls got under way at the RDSO basketball courts in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday. Although the first day of the championship was disrupted by heavy showers, perennial powerhouses Chhattisgarh girls started off strong again with a convincing victory over Punjab.

24 boys’ teams and 23 girls’ teams are taking part in this championship, which features the youngest members of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) family. The nationals, organised by the BFI and the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), was inaugaurated by the chief guest V. Ramchandran, the director-general of RDSO, on Thursday evening.

Mr. Alok Sharma, the president of the UPBA was also present at the opening ceremony and encouraged the young hoop stars at present at the tournament. “You have come here to enjoy the game. At this stage, you learn the basics of basketball, you learn to win, and you learn to lose. Learning to lose is as important as learning to win.”

The Chhattisgarh Girls side, winners of the 2010 championship in Kangra, started where they left off in Lucknow with a dominating win over Punjab. Chhattisgarh only allowed Punjab to score one point in the first three quarters, and were comfortable 43-8 winners.

In a close Boys’ game, Andhra Pradesh edged out Haryana 36-34. After taking a comfortable eight point lead at the end of three quarters, Haryana made a furious comeback in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to stop AP from a close victory.

Final Scores

Boys

Andhra Pradesh (MA Salman 11) bt. Haryana (Mohit 11) 36-34 (5-10, 10-6, 11-2, 10-16)

Girls

Chhattisgarh (Rhea Verma 13, P. Divya 12) bt. Punjab 43-8 (18-1, 7-0, 4-0, 14-7)

Delhi bt. Himachal Pradesh 25-10 (3-6, 7-0, 8-4, 7-0)

Haryana (Meena 16, Nikita 10) bt. Gujarat 38-14 (20-4, 4-0, 8-4, 6-0)

Despite QF exit, Haryana Boys basketball takes a big step forward

It seemed too good to be true. A side pooled into the lower level of the tournament demolishes every rival that comes its way and finds itself in a dream Quarter Final match-up against its big-name neighbour. Despite being underdogs, it dominates the proceedings, threatening to cause a historical upset.

But in the fourth quarter their dreams come crashing down. Despite leading by 8 points, their opponents make a fierce comeback in the fourth and take the lead. With the game on the line and a little over a second on the clock, the underdog side gets one last attempt at the basket. Their star player attempts a jump-shot from the left corner, one last shot that would win the game for his team and lead them into an unlikely Semi-Final spot.

Miss!

The ball touches on the far side of the rim and bounces off. The fairytale ends, and the losing team leaves the court dejected.

The Haryana Boys team, a side that haven’t made a mark in the tournament for nearly 20 years, went on a dream run at the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls at Nagpur and came within a jump-shot of defeating the capital side of Delhi and making it to the last four. But don’t tell them that the fairy-tale is over, because as coach Mahtab Dahiya and his group of hard-working young players will have you believe, this year is just the beginning: with a big step forward in this tournament, this team has ambitions for the gold next year.

“This is the best performance that we have had for many years, and after winning six straight games we lost just by one point,” said Coach Dahiya, clearly dejected after an early end to his team’s run, “But we have done well – and from being a lower level team this year, we have qualified to be amongst the higher level for the next Youth Nationals.”

Their best performance, Dahiya states, came against another stronger side, Andhra Pradesh. Before their Quarter-Final, Haryana played AP in an early morning game on the same day, and his players responded with a strong showing, defeating AP by 73 points en route to posting highest offensive score of the championship with 119 points.

So how did a team, who aren’t known to make a mark in Basketball tournaments in India, manage to do this well? Dahiya and his players claim that there was no magic formula, no superstar addition, and no major tactical change: just the good old cliché of ‘practice makes perfect’. “We just practiced harder for this tournament than ever before,” Dahiya said, “For the first time, we held a month-long camp before the tournament started in Kaithal in Haryana. We used to practice an hour a day first, and now, this team practice for two to two and a half hours daily.”

Haryana Boys won their first six games of the championship, beating Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Kerala, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh before their hurdle against Delhi. “We got unlucky,” Dahiya added, “We had ambitions to win the gold, but our luck didn’t favour our ambition.” Haryana were determined to make a mark in the championship this year, and even though they haven’t progressed beyond the last eight, their promotion from Lower to Higher Level is a result of the hard work that this team had put in.

On the way, players like Himanshu Sharma, Rakesh Sangwan, and Rahul Sharma left an indelible mark on the championship. Himanshu, the team’s leader from the front, has been the team’s best creator, dishing and driving at will throughout the tournament. He also epitomises the unselfish spirit of this team, deflecting any praise away from himself towards his teammates. “My individual play was fine, but our team as a whole showed good chemistry to come this far,” he said.

Rakesh Sangwan, at 6 foot 6, is the biggest player in the side, and was a handful in the post position in each game. After picking up the game just two years ago, he developed quickly to seal the starting role for Haryana.

And then there was Rahul Sharma, one of the youngsters in the side, a strong shooter who will be part of the Haryana U16 side next year, too. “We all had good performances,” Rahum said, “But next year, we plan to play even better. It will be the upper group, and we will play against better teams, but I promise we’ll be ready for it.”

And like his players, the coach also shares their confidence. “70% of this team can be back for next year’s Youth Nationals,” said Dahiya, “We will be back – and we will aim for the gold.”

Basketball’s Federation Cup to tip off in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) from Feb 10th

In a competition where the finest basketball teams in the country are set to be pitted against each other, the 25th IMG-Reliance Federation Cup Basketball Championship for Men and Women will be held Raipur (Chhattisgarh) from 10th-15th February, 2011. The championship will be conducted by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Basketball Association.

The Federation Cup is a tournament that features the top eight teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions from the previous year’s Sr. National Basketball Championship. Thus, the top ranked teams from the 60th National Basketball Championship (in Ludhiana) will take part in the Federation Cup this year.

The participating squads are:

Men

1. Indian Railways
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Uttarakhand
4. Services
5. Andhra Pradesh
6. Chhattisgarh
7. Karnataka
8. Kerala

Women

1. Indian Railways
2. Delhi
3. Chhattisgarh
4. Karnataka
5. Kerala
6. Tamil Nadu
7. Maharashtra
8. Andhra Pradesh

The host team qualifies automatically – this year, hosts Chhattisgarh already fell in the top-eight of both divisions. The Men and Women’s teams from Punjab will not be participating, and have been replaced by Kerala (Men) and Andhra Pradesh (Women).

The 24th edition of the Federation Cup was held at Alwar (Rajasthan) from October 22nd-26th, 2009. ONGC (Uttrakhand) were champion amongst the Men while SEC (Indian Railways) won the Women’s division.

Delhi sets the biggest stage for the biggest games

National Basketball Championships have been held in India before – 60 times before to be exact – but there is something special about the 61st. Something different. The cheers are louder. The lights are brighter. The passes are so crisp that you can hear them zoom by.

The best Indian players in the business are displaying their talents at the 61st IMG-Reliance National Basketball Championship in New Delhi with the biggest prize in Indian basketball at stake. There is no bigger stage for the biggest games in the country, and the national capital has stepped up to host this fierce competition. But what will make this championship truly memorable that it is the first year that the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) is receiving full sponsorship for its events by the IMG-Reliance partnership.

As BFI’s secretary-general Harish Sharma said to reporters to Monday, basketball is indeed ready to take the next step and conquer India.

An electric atmosphere is greeting players and fans every day at the Talkatora Stadium and the Modern School at Barakhamba, where the games are being held. On Friday afternoon, Andhra Pradesh face a challenge from Chandigarh in a relatively quieter affair, but not lacking in drama and intensity. A trumpeting sound from the crowd screamed over the applause – it was no vuvuzela, but a cheaper and equally effective knock-off! At the Talkatora Indoor Stadium, the players rushed and hustled their sneakers over the squeaky bright wooden floor, looking like one of the best basketball-playing surfaces in the country. An LED screen atop the stands show the live action as it unfolds, and then show highlights from basketball around the world during the breaks, including from the international games and the NBA. Hip-Hop and Punjabi music blares during time-outs and quarter-ends. The AP-Chandigarh game enters crunch time, and the small crowd gets on their feet for the last few minutes. AP hold on to their nerves in their end, stretch out their lead, and pull off an impressive 15 point victory.

The crowd gets larger and louder as the sun goes down. atmosphere reaches fever pitch by the evenings, when the marquee teams like Indian Railways, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Services, and of course, the hosts Delhi take centre-stage. Railways, who are the two time champions in both the men’s and women’s divisions, are once again the favourites to find their way to the Indian Basketball’s Promised Land!

But the best thing about this kind of competition in India is the showcase of India as a cultural phenomenon itself. No matter where in India the players hailed from, they shared a common enthusiasm for basketball. On Friday alone, the Talkatora stadium bore witnesses to players communicating in Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and English. It’s a snapshot of the complete picture of Indian on one basketball court, communicated through dribbles, jumpshots, and hustle plays.

The Talkatora stadium itself has become a temporary temple of sorts to Indian basketball’s finest. Fans walk cardboard cut-outs of their basketball idols, getting am impression of the ones who are making a name for themselves in the sport across the country: players like Shiba Maggon, Sambajhi Kadam, Riyazzudin, Akanskha Singh, Anitha P., and many others.

On the court itself the action hasn’t disappointed. With quick, on-point passing, awesome athletic ability, and some dead-eye sharp-shooting, the Nationals are serving as the perfect platform for Indian basketball fans to catch a glimpse of their country’s elite.

The tournament moves on to the Quarter-Final stage from the 2nd of January, and the Finals are scheduled to be held on the 4th. The stage for the biggest teams has been set; now all eyes will be on the biggest teams to step up and claim it!

American visionaries hoping to strengthen basketball community in India

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Phase 1. Junior basketball training at a school in Secunderabad
Phase 2. ???
Phase 3. Profit

Ok, so it's not exactly Underpants Gnomes Logic, but basketball visionaries Robert Selby and Tanya Parker from the US, have joined hands with the St. Patrick's Academy, a school in Secunderabad, to "broad base what they call the greatest game in the world." According to Parker, the duo has set up a five-year pilot project through which they "hope to build a 100,000-strong basketball community in India."

The duo worked with Bana 'Baba' Ravinder and the children of the St. Patrick's Academy. A. Joseph Antony from The Hindu reports:

Their first day with Ravinder's trainees was an exhilarating experience. “The children were sponges, soaking up whatever we had for them,” said Selby, a product of the Five Star Academy at Honesdale in the mountains of Pennsylvania.
The said institution nurtured the game's greats such as Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Vince Carter among 400 who made it to the fiercely competitive National Basketball Association (NBA) league.
“The body language of the children here bristled with enthusiasm, matched by their willingness to learn, making it obvious that size didn't matter,” Selby noted.
“The girls seemed more thoughtful though,” said Tanya, a teacher turned business woman, who does the marketing, communication and fund-raising for World Class Athletic Development, the firm the duo has set up.

“We want to build a farm system of talent up to the state level and then let it take wing through exchange and training scholarships in line with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) model,” [Selby] added.
“We see our venture as sacred commerce, which benefits people and feeds more energy into the existing structure,” says Tanya.

The duo also hope to hold a residential camp for junior national players from Andhra Pradesh, collaborate with India's very own hoop culture promoters Hoops India, and later attend the junior national championships in Chennai.

Big plans for the duo - hopefully they continue to enjoy the charm of teaching basketball in India.

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