A bigger, faster and stronger Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) defeated Integral Coach Factory (ICF) 77-50 in the final to emerge as the Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty all-India basketball tournament champion, at Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.
IOB’s centres Aravind Annadurai, P. Jeevanantham and Vineeth Mathew dominated their smaller counterparts under the board. Annadurai (23 points), in particular, stood out as a powerhouse player. The 6’7” India international plucked out offensive rebounds with ease and locked shots at the other end. A couple of dunks in the first quarter endeared Annadurai to the crowd.
Fellow big man Jeevanantham (14 points) showed deft touch, and the ability the finish tough plays. In Prasanna Venkatesh and G. Sivabalan, IOB boasted of two athletic guards capable of executing terrific fast-breaks.
ICF’s hopes rested on P. Vijay (13 points), but the power forward was not the menacing presence seen in earlier encounters. Marked tight, Vijay was pressured into taking poor shots. Point guard G. A. Anto Bethle, whose big scoring numbers earned him the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award, had a quiet outing.
IOB received ₹1,00,000, while ICF took home ₹50,000. R. A. Sankara Narayanan, Vijaya Bank CEO and Managing Director, gave away the prizes.
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