Kerala senior basketball c’ship to be part of Viswappan Trophy’s year-long silver jubilee celebrations

The State championship, which will be officially inaugurated by Alappuzha District Collector John V. Samuel on Wednesday, will have all the State’s 14 districts in the men’s section and 12 in women’s.

Former Kerala basketball captain, international referee and coach P.V. Viswappan | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

For years after his retirement from Mahatma Gandhi University in 1991, P.S. Viswappan used to coach children in basketball at the Alappuzha YMCA. The former Kerala captain was very passionate about the sport and took no remuneration for his services.

Touched by his services to the sport, the Alappuzha YMCA, in his honour, started the Viswappan Trophy all-Kerala basketball tournament in 1993 when the coach was alive.

Viswappan passed away in 2004, but the tournament lives on and will celebrate its 25th year this season. To celebrate it, the YMCA has decided to conduct a series of events.

The 67th IndianOil Kerala State senior basketball championship for men and women, which begins at the Alappuzha YMCA on Tuesday, will be a part of this celebration.

“We will also organise coaching camps, a coaches clinic and also an all-India tournament as part of this year-long celebration,” said Michael Mathai, the president of the Alappuzha YMCA and the chairman of the championship’s organising committee, on Monday.

The Viswappan Trophy could not be held after 2019 owing to the Covid pandemic. When the YMCA decided to revive it this year, for the tournament’s silver jubilee, it decided to go big.

The State championship, which will be officially inaugurated by Alappuzha District Collector John V. Samuel on Wednesday, will have all the State’s 14 districts in the men’s section and 12 in women’s.

The teams have been divided into four groups in both the sections.

League matches will begin at 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday, and the knockout will start on November 10, with the finals on November 12.

Groupings

Men: Pool A: Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kasargod. B: Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kannur. C: Alappuzha, Malappuram, Idukki. D: Kozhikde, Kollam, Wayanad.

Women: Pool A: Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Malappuram. B: Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Kannur. C: Thrissur, Kottayam, Kasargod. D: Palakkad, Kollam, Alappuzha.