With experience on his side, Ernakulam coach Eudrick hopes to defend Kerala State Senior Basketball Championship

Ernakulam is virtually last year’s side with the only prominent new addition being power forward Vaisakh who was with the Indian team which had an exposure tour to Dubai last week.

Defending champion Ernakulam men during their final training session ahead of the Kerala State senior basketball championship which begins in Kochi on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Stan Rayan

As the Ernakulam team went through its final training session, ahead of the 68th Kerala State Senior Basketball Championship, which begins at the Regional Sports Centre here on Tuesday, head coach Eudrick Pereira kept shouting out instructions.

Ernakulam is the men’s defending champion and Thiruvananthapuram was last year’s runner-up but Eudrick feels college players could make a big impact this time.

“College teams like Thrissur and Kottayam will be very strong and organised because they are loaded with players who train together throughout the year. We can’t take any team easily,” Eudrick told Sportstar in a chat here on Monday.

“Thrissur is virtually a mix of college players from Sree Kerala Varma and Christ (Irinjalakuda) while Kottayam is loaded with Changanassery’s SB College players. The college teams are unbelievably fit, and very athletic. It’s not like before... they give much importance to strength and conditioning now.”

Incidentally, Thrissur is in Ernakulam’s group (Group ‘A’) while Kottayam is bunched with Thiruvananthapuram in Group ‘A’ which means the tournament could produce some early sparks.

Ernakulam is virtually last year’s side with the only prominent new addition being power forward Vaisakh who was with the Indian team which had an exposure tour to Dubai last week.

The champion side is mainly a mix of players from Central Excise-Customs and guest players from Kerala Police. Thiruvananthapuram is mainly composed of stars from KSEB and Police.

Eudrick’s debut as the Ernakulam district’s coach was a winning one last year and he feels that the team’s advantage is that it has many experienced players, including four who played the last Senior Nationals.

State championship groupings:

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

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