National basketball championship: Railways win match, but AP capture hearts

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Andhra Pradesh may have lost their final group match against Indian Railways 77-91, but the South Indian state won many a heart with their spirited show against the defending champions at the 62nd senior national basketball championship here at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Experienced Railways coach K. Ram Kumar, who guided the team to title triumph in the last three editions, was left scratching his head when AP men raced to a 14-1 lead midway through the first quarter. Railways’ bench was buzzing as Ram kept substituting players to hit the right combination, but confident Andhra’s surge continued (21-6).

Pedestrian errors from the multiple champions stuck out like a sore thumb. On the other hand, AP trio of Naveen Kumar (24pts), Vinay Kumar Yadav (18) and Prashanth Kumar Kullu (15) were on a dream run. But their fairytale ended in an anticlimax when Railways’ seniors Gagandeep Singh, Dilawar Singh and Jasjot Singh rediscovered their rhythm towards the end of the third quarter.

Dilawar, a master of long-range shooting, bailed out Railways, scoring three shots from outside the arc, all coming at crucial junctures. While sturdy Gagandeep took the responsibility of pulling down rebounds — 17 in total — and converting majority of them, Jasjot cut through the defence to score a series of two-pointers.

Andhra Pradesh, however, made it to the knockout stage by virtue of their lone victory in the round robin, against Uttar Pradesh. AP will now play Haryana in the pre-quarterfinals. Level II teams Karnataka and Haryana have earned berths for the elimination round after winning the play-offs against Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh respectively. Karnataka will face Uttarakhand in the PQF. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh were relegated to lower level as they had lost all their matches in the group stage.

Tamil Nadu finished on top of Group A after they continued their unbeaten run to down Uttar Pradesh 79-53. Arun Chandra Doss emerged top-scorer for the home team with 18 points. Kerala, Services, Delhi, Indian Railways, Punjab have also made it to the quarterfinals in the men’s section.