Basketball championship: Punjab boys stun defending champions Rajasthan

Hosts Punjab stunned defending champions Rajasthan in the boys’ category in the ongoing 75th Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls being organised by the Punjab Basketball Association under the auspices of Basketball Federation of India at Guru Nanak Stadium here on Saturday.

Excelling in pace and power, Punjab players exhibited fine combination and ball control at crucial moments with their opponents, also playing never give-up game. However, Punjab eventually managed to scramble past the defending champions Rajasthan with a wafer-thin margin (79-77).

In the girls’ section, reigning champions Karnataka faced a stiff resistance from Uttar Pradesh before clinching the issue 78-67. However, Punjab girls who lost the final in the previous edition of the championship, held at Indore, today waged a spirited battle against Tamil Nadu before going down 56-64.

In other matches (boys), last year’s fourth placed Uttar Pradesh outnumbered Andhra Pradesh 89-54, Haryana outclassed Maharashtra 95-69, while in the girls’ section, last years’ third placed Maharashtra beat Telangana 60-21 and Haryana beat Madhya Pradesh 63-43

Meanwhile, in the looser (knock-out) matches, Delhi, Karnataka and Uttarakhand registered victories in the respective matches in the boys’ section, while Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Delhi recorded win in their matches to keep their hopes alive.

In the boys’ section, Delhi overpowered Telangana 83-73, Karnataka beat Gujrat 70-60, and Uttarakhand defeated Chhattisgarh 48-34.

Likewise, in the girls’ section, Chhattisgarh outperformed Andhra Pradesh 52-42, Kerala overwhelmed Odisha 58-17 and Delhi outplayed Meghalaya 67-43.