Rajasthan boys begin campaign on positive note

Defending champions (boys), Rajasthan began their campaign on a positive note; while in the girls section, Karnataka lost their opening match on the first day of the 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.

Rajasthan boys scored an emphatic 79-50 win against Kerala to start the proceeding in style, however, in the girls’ category, last years’ winners, Karnataka, went down fighting (44-67) against Gujrat.

In other matches, played on the opening day of the eight-day championship, in the boys’ section, Tamil Nadu defeated Madhya Pradesh 74-57, Maharashtra prevailed over Chandigarh 57-52, Mizoram overpowered Puducherry 67-65, Chhattisgarh routed Sikkim 56-13, Uttarakhand beat Assam 62-57, Jharkhand outplayed Arunachal Pradesh 55-32, Delhi outperformed Himachal Pradesh 54-33 and Gujrat outclassed Goa 54-29. In the last match of the day, in boy's section, hosts Punjab faced a stiff resistance from Uttar Pradesh before romping home victorious 74-67.

In the girls’ group, Tamil Nadu thrashed Telangana 71-35, Uttar Pradesh got the better of Madhya Pradesh 54-30, Chhattisgarh drubbed Uttarakhand 67-30, Kerala beat West Bengal 71-30, Odisha overcame stiff challenge from Assam before wrapping up the issue 45-34 and Meghalaya outclassed Bihar 57-25.