Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Ludhiana, May 14
Punjab’s reign as the national champions was ended by a springy, untiring and aggressive bunch of Kerala boys, who knocked the favourites out in the semifinals of the Junior Basketball National Championship with an 85-69 win. Kerala, motivated to avenge their defeat to Punjab in last year’s final, didn’t shy away from taking the game to the home favourites. Refusing to cow down despite a vocal crowd support for the home team, Kerala nudged and budged Punjab out of the match.
After riling up the Punjab players — Indian player Princepal Singh, in particular — Kerala gained the mental edge in the first half, taking a 37-34 lead. It was not that they were just beating Punjab mentally. They were quicker in defence and had better understanding while attacking. With their speed, Kerala were able to nullify Punjab’s obvious height advantage. Punjab started to run out of ideas. As the gap in the energy levels between the Kerala and Punjab players widened, so did the deficit. At one point, Kerala led 46-36.
But Kerala’s bid to unsettle Punjab players almost backfired with Princepal getting charged up. He smashed in a dunk and slapped away the ball while making a block with such aggression that the whole team got fired up. Punjab fought back to 46-46. But the momentum didn’t last for long as Kerala again calmly took control slowly ran away with the match to book a place in the final against Rajasthan.
Rajasthan eased past Delhi 107-84, with Rajeev being the top-scorer with 38 points. Rajasthan dominated the match from the start to end.
Brilliant Tamil Nadu girls
In the girls’ semifinals, Tamil Nadu beat in-form Uttar Pradesh 78-41, while Kerala edged past Karnataka 68-66. Kerala’s Sreekala scored 35 points. Defending champions Tamil Nadu’s masterclass performance turned the match between last year’s finalists into a one-sided affair.
With their teamwork, Tamil Nadu nullified this edition’s star player, Vaishnavi Yadav, who had scored the women’s scoring record at the national level of 71 points in the pool stage. Parthiba Priya and Dharshini were untiring as the first wall of defence. Parthiba, in particular, frustrated Vaishnavi with her tight marking. Vaishnavi, who also had fifty-plus scores in two matches, was pushed back and forced to shoot from way outside the three-point line, and her runs were effectively closed down.
