Vaishnavi scores 71 in single game, TN boys go down to Kerala

Kerala was joined by Delhi and Rajasthan in the men’s semifinals.

Vaishnavi Yadav (left).

Kerala defeated Tamil Nadu boys 110-102 in the quarterfinals of the 69th National junior basketball championship at the Guru Nanak Dev Stadium on Saturday.

Delhi and Rajasthan joined Kerala in the men’s semifinals.

In the women’s section, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala made the semifnlas. Uttar Pradesh had lost to Kerala in the league phase 866-89 but Vaishnavi scored a record 71 of the team’s 86 points in that match.

Vaishnavi’s record: 71 in a single game! Uttar Pradesh’s under-16 India forward Vaishnavi Yadav came up with a record 71 points against Kerala in the 69 National junior basketball championships in Ludhiana late on Saturday night. Two years ago, Chhattisgarh’s India centre Poonam Chaturvedi – the country’s tallest female player at 6’11 – produced 65 points against Maharashtra in the Federation Cup in Goa and that appears to be the previous scoring record at the national championship-level. Still, Vaishnavi’s big score was not enough for victory as Kerala pipped UP 89-86 in the Group ‘B’ league game. The 5’6 Vaishnavi, who took up basketball seven years ago, was in impressive form for India in the under-16 FIBA Asia Championship in Bengaluru last year and in ongoing Ludhiana Junior Nationals too, she came up with big scores against Maharashtra (58 points) in the league phase and on Saturday, guiding UP to a 76-47 quarterfinal victory over Gujarat with her personal contribution being 43 points. Clearly, this Allahabad girl is cut out for big things.

 

The results: Men (quarterfinals): Delhi 86 (Nitin 25, Aditya 24) bt Uttar Pradesh 78 (Priyanshu 20, Akshay 16). Rajasthan 112 (Rajeev 45, Ashish 21) bt Gujarat 107 (Ashutosh 35, Krishnapal 23). Kerala 110 (Sejin 43, Shanzail 22) bt Tamil Nadu 102 (Arvind 27). League: Group-A: Punjab 80 (Gurnoor 22, Vivek 19) bt Tamil Nadu 51 (Arvind 14). Women (quarterfinals): Uttar Pradesh 76 (Vaishnavi 43, Kavya 17) bt Gujarat 47 (Ria 18, Tavleen 12). Karnataka 67 (Sanjana 28, Harshita 13) bt Maharashtra 49 (Neha 17, Anshika 14). Kerala 63 (Aparna 15, Ann Mary 12) bt Madhya Pradesh 40 (Ravi 16). League: Group-B: Kerala 89 (Sreekala 33, Ann Mary 21) bt Uttar Pradesh 86 (Vaishnavi 71). Maharashtra 73 (Neha 23, Shreya 15) bt Punjab 68 (Sakshi 21, Rajandeep 18).