Federation Cup: India internationals shine on opening day

Arvind Annadurai was in the thick of the action as Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai, subdued Hissar Club 73-65 after leading 36-22 in their men’s group B match.

Action during the game between Easter Railway and Telangana.

International cagers stood out with sterling displays in the opening rounds of the senior Federation Cup basketball championships at the Chittoor District Sports Authority stadium on Tuesday.

Arvind Annadurai was in the thick of the action as Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai, subdued Hissar Club 73-65 after leading 36-22 in their men’s group B match.

On the distaff side, Jeena P.S., who had shone in the recent Commonwealth Games, played the role of forward with finesse, 19 points testimony to her prowess in Kerala’s 66-60 defeat of Tamil Nadu in their women’s group A match.

Ably assisting her was captain Anjana P.G. with 17, also as forward. Siblings Pushpa and Sathiya Senthil, the former a forward, the latter a guard, built up TN’s resistance in tandem with guard Nishanthi.

Earlier, Eastern Railway trounced Telangana 64-22 in their women’s group B match on court two, the defending champion leading 33-20 at half-time.

Experience separated the two sides, the Railway women tested in the first two quarters but breezing through the next two. Telangana buckled and caved in tamely, especially in the latter half, when the Railway women employed the full court press.

With each quarter, the Telangana girls seemed to tire, the margins widening steadily. Their passing was poor, pounced upon by Railways’ agile and alert attack. When they did manage to penetrate the rival D, Eastern Railway effected steals and set off on fast breaks. Capitalising on these turnarounds was Railways’ Salma Devi.

International Eudrick Pereira’s 21, supplemented by Manoj’s 11, including a trio of three-pointers and Shinumon’s 13 helped Customs and Central Excise, Kochi subdue Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh 70-62.
 

The results:
Men:  Group A: Customs & Central Excise, Kochi 70 (Eudrick Pereira 21, Manoj 11, Shinumon A. 13) bt SAAP 62 (Naveen Kumar 14, I.B.P.C.H. Varma 12, V.M. Sagar 12). B: IOB 73 (Arvind Annadurai 16, Siva Balan 13) bt Hissar Club 65 (Sandeep 13).
Women:  Group A: Kerala 66 (Jeena P.S. 19, Anjana P.G. 17) bt TN 60 (Pushpa Senthil 14, G. Nishanthi 12, Sathiya 11). B:  Eastern Railway 64 (Salma Devi  15, Madhu Kumari 10, Anjaana Daisy Ekka 9) bt Telangana 22 (D. Manasa 8, Y. Manjula 6).