The maiden edition of the Telangana Pro Basketball League (TPBL), the first professional basketball league in the State and only the second official state-level professional league in the country, concluded in grand fashion at the Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium, Yousufguda, on Wednesday night. Dubbed the “IPL of Telangana basketball”, the eight-day tournament began on December 16 with six teams competing for the inaugural crown. In a thrilling final, the Hyderabad Honey Badgers edged past the Nizam Nawabs 70–63 in a closely fought contest to clinch the title. The champions pocketed a prize purse of Rs 20 lakh, along with a MVP award that included a Yamaha R15 motorcycle.

The closing ceremony was graced by Sabitha Indira Reddy, who presented the championship trophy and hailed the successful conduct of the league as a proud moment for Telangana. She lauded the Telangana Basketball Association (TBA) for setting new benchmarks in organising a professional league and contributing significantly to the sport’s growth.

Earlier, TBA president R. Sridhar Reddy credited the newly elected association team for conceptualising and executing the league, while highlighting General Secretary Ambati Prudhvishwar Reddy as the driving force behind TPBL. He said the vision was to make Telangana a role model for basketball in India.