Fed Cup: ONGC makes it four in a row

Most Valuable Player Vishesh Bhriguvanshi scored 20 points to help ONGC defeat IOB 73-57 in the men's final of the Federation Cup basketball tournament. In the women’s section, Kerala lifted the title after defeating Chhattisgarh 80-71.

Published : Mar 14, 2016 21:23 IST , Panjim

Kerala women's team poses with the trophy after defeating Chhattisgarh in the final of the Federation Cup basketball tournament in Panjim on Monday.
Kerala women's team poses with the trophy after defeating Chhattisgarh in the final of the Federation Cup basketball tournament in Panjim on Monday.
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Kerala women's team poses with the trophy after defeating Chhattisgarh in the final of the Federation Cup basketball tournament in Panjim on Monday.

A stellar show by Vishesh Bhriguvanshi helped ONGC (Dehradun) stop a spirited IOB (Chennai) in the men's final of the Federation Cup basketball tournament here on Monday.

India international Bhriguvanshi (20 points, 9 rebounds) took over late in the third-quarter, just as IOB (Chennai) was beginning to get into the groove. With IOB up 53-51, Bhriguvanshi converted two exceptional layups in transition, and from this point on, ONGC never lost faith.

The first 10 minutes, however, witnessed one-way traffic. Troubled by Yadwinder Singh's energetic defence, IOB stared at a huge 27-5 deficit at the end of the first-quarter, but staged a valiant comeback to narrow the lead to 31-26 at half-time.

After the restart, both teams ran neck and neck, before Bhriguvanshi carried ONGC to a fourth-straight Federation Cup title.

In the women's section, an all-round show from Kerala took the side past Chhattisgarh. The primary ploy of Chhattisgarh — to pass the ball to the 6' 11” Poonam Chaturvedi (33 points) under the basket — worked in spurts, but it was not enough.

Kerala, on the other hand, possessed far too many weapons. Centre Stephy Nixon (26 pts), P.S. Jeena (22 pts, 9 rebounds) and P.S. Neenumol (21 pts) were unstoppable, and the 19 offensive rebounds collected gave the champion plenty of second chances to score.

The results:

Final:

Men: ONGC (Dehradun) 73 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 20, Yadwinder Singh 17, Trideep Rai 15, Riyazuddin 14) bt IOB (Chennai) 57 (Pratham Singh 25, Aravind Annadurai 13).

Women: Kerala 80 (Stephy Nixon 26, P.S. Jeena 22, P.S. Neenumol 21) bt Chhattisgarh 71 (Poonam Chaturvedi 33, Sharanjeet Kaur 21, V. Riya 12).

Third-place playoff:

Men: Army Red bt Vijaya Bank 76-66; Women: Telangana bt Southeast Central Railways 65-56.

Individual awards:

Most Valuable Player: Men: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (ONGC); Women: Poonam Chaturvedi (Chhattisgarh)

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