Chhattisgarh girls, MP boys reign supreme

​Hyderabad: There was no stopping Chhattisgarh girls and BFI-Madhya Pradesh boys, who reasserted their supremacy in their categories with exciting championship triumphs, in the 43rd Arise Steel Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship-2016 at the SATS Indoor Stadium in Saroornagar here on Friday.

Although, Chhattisgarh had a relatively easy 57-48 win over Kerala girls, the boys final was a close affair. The defending champion survived a gritty showing by Rajasthan before annexing the coveted trophy with a tantalisingly narrow 69-66 verdict.

The happiest man, apart from the winning team members, was the ecstatic Rajesh Patel, the head coach of Chhattisgarh, who achieved a personal milestone. “This is my 100th medal at the national level,” descried Patel at the end of the day.

Later, P Niranjan Reddy, Vice-Chairman, Telangana State Planning Commission distributed the trophies. Aadhav Arjuna, Managing Director of Arise Steel Industries, the title sponsors, Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary-General of Basketball Federation of India, M Rajender Reddy, President, Telangana Basketball Association, and R Sridhar Reddy, President of Hyderabad Basketball Association and also the Organising Committee, graced the occasion.

Results: Finals-Girls: Chhattisgarh 57 (Kirti 20, Urvashi Baghel 16) bt Kerala 48 (Ann Mary Zachariah 19, Aleena Antony 8); Boys Level I: BFI-Madhya Pradesh 69 (Virat Dhakad 19, Aman Negi 13) bt Rajasthan 66(Mahaveer Banjara 29, Kamal Singh 10);

Play-offs-Girls: Tamil Nadu 70(Nitika A 19, Sathya K 19, Sree Varshini J 18) bt Maharashtra 50 (Siya Deodhar 18, Chaitaali Bafna 14); Boys: Haryana 73(Gourav 19, Depender 11, Sahil 11, Vikas 10) bt Andhra Pradesh 42 (Shaik Ahmed 12, Nayeem Pranav 8).