IOB Chennai, Customs and Central Excise Kochi, ONGC Dehradun and MEG Bengaluru from the men, Eastern Railway, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra women advanced to the semi-finals of the senior Federation Cup basketball tournament at the Chittoor District Sports Authority stadium courts, here, on Friday.
Speed and skill prevailed over height and presence as Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) subdued Punjab Police 86-74 in its men’s group B match. At half-time, Punjab was ahead 37-36.
IOB crowded the rival semi-circle in offence and its own in defence, while a barrage of three-pointers from shooter G. Sivabalan (3), Rikin Pethani (4) and K. Hareesh (4) bypassed the outstretched arms of the taller Punjab defenders. Hareesh was the able marksman, dodging and feinting his way in with repeated forays into rival territory.
For the police team, star hoopster Satnam Singh Bhamara pivoted repeatedly to net 20 points in the first half itself. The 7’ 2” forward would have proved more productive if the front line had fed the ball to him more often.
READ: Federation Cup: Punjab Police overcomes Hissar Club in high-scoring game
The results:
Men: Group A: ONGC 62 (Muin Bek 10, Yadwinder Singh 20, Arjun Singh 12) bt Customs & Central Excise, Kochi 34 (Bony Mathew 10, Robin S. 10); BSF, Jodhpur 47 (Vinod Kumar 24) bt SAAP 25 (G. Venkat Reddy 10); ONGC 53 (Muin Bek 21, Arjun Singh10) bt BSF 32 (Gurvinder Singh 14). B: MEG 66 (Prem Prakash 12, Rahul Sharath 11) bt Hissar Club 36; Indian Overseas Bank 86 (G. Sivabalan 26, Rikin Pethani 21, K. Hareesh 20) bt Punjab Police 74 (Satnam Singh 21, Dilpreet 16, Gurdit Singh 11, Rajveer Singh 11).
Women: A: TN 56 (S. Sathiya 15, S. Pushpa 14) bt Karnataka 47 (Priyanka 17, Navaneetha 13); Kerala 60 (Jeena P.S. 21, Anjana P.G. 10, G. Rojamol 13) bt Chhattisgarh 41 (Gulabsha Ali 15); Chhattisgarh 60 (Gulabsha Ali 23, Neha Karwa 13) bt AP 39 (N. Padmavathi 16); Kerala 52 (Anjana P.G. 14, Rojamol G. 10, Jeena P.S. 12) bt Karnataka 36. B: Eastern Railway 62 (Sitamani Tudu 15, Nivya Raj P.P. 12, Libina M.J. 10) bt Maharashtra 58 (Sruthi Menon 15, Mugdha Amraotkar 19, Sakshi Arora 11, Shruti Sherigar 10).
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