WITH seven titles, the last six in a row, Punjab Police ought to be the best basketball side in India. It won the Federation Cup in 1994 and finished runner-up the next year. There was no looking back afterwards as it triumphed in the next six editions, the latest victory coming at the J. R. D. Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur.
If Punjab Police's achievement could go down in the history books as one of the finest, the effort of Western Railway, which won the women's crown, could be the beginning. Such was the domination of these two teams in the 18th edition of the championship.
The wake-up call Punjab Police got in its lung opener against Tata Steel inspired the team to thrash the host Tata Steel 83-50 in the summit clash. The victory earned the team the right to represent India in the Asian Basketball Confederation Middle Asia zone qualifying tournament for the 13th Champions' Cup.
Western Railway women, representing the defending champion Indian Railways, played with verve and fluency to dominate Tamil Nadu and win 88-59.
Tata Steel's decision to field an unfit captain Jaldeep Dhaliwal in the final proved disastrous. Having aggravated an old knee injury, Jaldeep should have ruled himself out. Instead he chose to play, thus making the task of Punjab Police easier.
Punjab Police took a firm grip on the game early to lead the first quarter 21-10. After both teams scored 16 points each in the second quarter, Punjab Police raised the level of play to score 27 points as against 10 scored by the host. Punjab Police spearhead Parminder Singh Sr. made the most of the opportunity to gather 22 points. Parminder Singh Jr. (28 with three 3-pointers) and Gagnesh Kumar (18 with two 3-pointers) were in tremendous form and helped in their team's victory.
Tata Steel's lack of bench strength combined with the marking of speedy the Mohit Bhandari and Riyazuddin blunted the attack and the host was always under pressure. The tall N. S. Rawat tried to put up a good defence to control the burly Parminder Sr. This meant he could not add to the attack as much as he would have desired.
No doubt Punjab Police was slow on the court but the team planned its strategy accordingly to outplay its opponents in the meet. Parminder Sr., Parminder Jr., Gursharanjit, Pritipal and Gagnesh Kumar along with Harminder, coming in as a substitute, displayed fine understanding to provide the cutting edge to the team. When the pivots were marked from causing much damage under the ring, Gagnesh and Parminder Jr. came up with superb shots from outside.
Western Railway women's strength lay in their speed and staying power as they outplayed every side in the tournament. After matching their rival in the first quarter (26-24), Tamil Nadu simply failed to maintain the tempo in the next three quarters. International Ranjani Jose was a big disappointment and failed to combine with the rest. The other international M. Meenalatha was well marked and could not provide her best. N. Shyamalajothi worked hard but always found this company too good. Naturally, the pressure was on play-maker and captain B. S. Shyla and Sharmili P. Mathew. It was this duo's good work that helped Tamil Nadu to a large extent.
Western Railways' three internationals, skipper Shiba Maggon, Arnika Gujar and Ivy Cherian, played with great understanding. With quick and effective promptings from Shanti Saldanha and Lincy Joseph, the Railways' attack flowed pushing Tamil Nadu on the defensive.
Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai, one of the favourites in this championship, was not good enough to win even the third place. The youngsters failed to click as a unit. The team had a wake-up call when it lost to Army in the group league encounter. Yet, it failed to learn the lesson and lost to Tata Steel which was without its most potent pivot Dhaliwal in the semifinals at 69-80. Army again inflicted a 68-64 defeat after the bankmen led 42-25 at halftime in a game to decide the third and fourth places.
Last year's runner-up Kerala was beaten 63-48 by Tamil Nadu in the women's semifinals. Kerala, however, did not disappoint in the bronze medal game beating Andhra Pradesh 53-39.
Eight States which entered the quarterfinals of the last senior Nationals were allowed to send their top club sides to participate.
In the men's section Punjab Police, Tata Steel, Vijaya Bank and Jaipur District formed Group 'A' while Group 'B' had Army, IOB, Central Excise and Western Railway. Tata Steel topped its group and Punjab Police finished second nudging out Vijaya Bank for a place in the last four knock-out stage. All three teams tied on four points after two victories each. In the points difference Tata Steel with plus 11 was on top and Punjab Police ended second with plus 9. Vijaya Bank with minus 20 difference was eliminated.
Army and IOB finished with four points each and were involved in a two-way tie. Since Army had beaten IOB in the league it took the top spot with IOB following it. Western Railway and Central Excise finished with two points each. Western's win over Central Excise ensured it a third place in the group.
In the women's category Western Railway, Tamil Nadu and Delhi were clubbed in group A. Western's all win record ensured a semifinals place as Tamil Nadu, by virtue of its runaway win over Delhi, was placed second. In group B, Kerala topped with three wins and AP with two victories came second. Karnataka finished third while Punjab, losing all its matches, finished last.
The Jharkhand Basketball Association in association with Tata Steel did a good job providing accommodation and food and generally looking after the participants well. The only sore point was the cement courts which the players did not relish. There were a number of muscle strains and minor lacerations owing to fall on the hard surface.
The results:Men's final: Punjab Police 83 (37) (Parminder Singh Jr. 28 (3), Gagnesh Kumar 18 (2), Parminder Singh Sr. 22) bt Tata Steel 50 (26) (Mohit Bhandari 13 (3), Riyazuddin 10 (2)).
For 3rd & 4th places: Army 68 (25) (Gagandeep 17, Phool Singh 15) bt IOB 64 (42) (Robinson 17, Hariharasudan 14).
Semifinals: Tata Steel 80 (45) (Mohit Bhandari 26 (3), Desraj 21, Riyazuddin 14) bt IOB 69 (42) (Robinson 23 (2), Sivasankar 14 (3), Sridhar 11 (3)); Punjab Police 82 (38) (Gagnesh 24, Parminder Jr. 21, Parminder Sr. 16) bt Army 72 (27) (Satish Kumar 14 (3), Gagandeep 11).
Women's final: Western Railway 88 (40) (Arnika Gujar 27 (3), Shiba Maggon 23) bt Tamil Nadu 59 (32) (B.S. Shyla 16 (4), Ranjani Jose 13).
For 3rd & 4th places: Kerala 53 (38) (Ligi George 14, Rigi A. Sunny 112) bt Andhra Pradesh 39 (23) (Jetty Jose 26).
Semifinals: Western Railway 82 (35) (Arnika Gujar 18 (2), Shiba Maggon 13) bt AP 42 (11) (Laiji V.P. 11); TN 63 (32) (Ranjani Jose 23, M. Meenalatha 12) bt Kerala 48 (15) (Rigi A. Sunny 14, Ambily (12).
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