Senior Nationals: Karnataka men upset Services, defending champ Punjab thrashes Gujarat
While Karnataka men's team beat multiple-time champion 117-76, defending champion Punjab defeated Gujarat 105-69 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Published : Apr 03, 2022 19:10 IST
The Karnataka men’s team has never been a contender in nearly five decades. Its women’s team has fared rather better, finishing runner-up way back in 1986.
In a Group-B contest of the 71st Senior National basketball championships at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Sunday, Karnataka with full support from three senior players–Shashank J Rai, A. Arvind and B.K. Anil Kumar–showed a small glimpse of its potential, by upsetting multiple-time champion Services 117-76.
Earlier, defending champion Punjab got off to a blazing start as it pummelled Gujarat 105-69 in a Group A opening men's tie. Punjab never let down its guard in any of the quarter and maintained a healthy lead throughout, with Amjyot Singh Gill top-scoring with 27 points.
Indian Railways women eased past host Tamil Nadu 100-62 in a Group-A match.
While the Karnataka-Services tie was one-sided from the first quarter, Services did put up a fight in the second quarter (18-25). Joginder Singh and Gaurav Chandel shared the bulk of the scoring with 15 and 18 points respectively. Karnataka’s Anil Kumar emerged the top-scorer with 28 while Arvind scored 25 points. Anil converted four three-pointers out of six attempts that altered the proceedings from time to time.
The results:Men: Group A: Punjab 105 (Amjyot Singh 27, Navkarman Singh 12, Kanwar GS Sandhu 14, Amritpal Singh 10, Princepal Singh 15) bt Gujarat 69 (Sahaj Patel 11, Kuldeep Tamaliya 12, Kasi Rajan 13); B: Karnataka 117 (B.K. Anil Kumar 28, A. Arvind 25, Pratyanshu Tomar 21) bt Services 76 (Gaurav Chandel 18, Joginder Singh 15); Women: A: Indian Railways 100 (Shruti Arvind 21, T. Dharshini 11, Madhu Kumari 12, Niam Doma Bhutiya 14, M. Nishitha 11) bt TN 62 (A. Ashmitha 14, J. Ishwarya 10). |