Punjab puts up a strong show

BHILAI, JUNE 23. Defending champion Punjab put up a powerful show to defeat Chandigarh 67-28 in the first semifinal in boys section of the 52nd junior National basketball meet at the Pant Stadium on Saturday.

Uttar Pradesh, runner-up last year, made it a replay of last edition's title clash when it beat Andhra Pradesh 84-68 in the second semifinal played late in the evening. The two teams will contest the final on Sunday.

In the girls section host Chhattisgarh kept itself in the hunt beating strong contender Maharashtra 74-55.

Punjab justified its status as the title holder by comfortably getting past neighbour Chandigarh's challenge. Led by forward Harbeer Singh's confident showing, Punjab cruised through the match with regular baskets coming up.

Harbeer scored 11 points and was ably supported by Sangram Singh who netted 10 points. The winner led 58-12 at half- time. Chandigarh's only bright spot was Neeraj Bhoopa. The attacker scored more than half of the team's total of 28 with a tally of 15 points.

Uttar Pradesh was served well by Sunil who scored 34 with four three-pointers. Tridip accounted for 22 points to be second highest scorer for U.P. Leading by just eight points at half-time with the scores reading 47-39, U.P. put up a good show in the last two quarters to outshine Andhra in the final tally.

In the girls' match Chhattisgarh had international Poonam Singh putting her best foot forward with a score of 27, which included four three pointers, against the western giant Maharashtra. The other two internationals in the team - Anju Lakra and Seema Singh - chipped in with 13 and 10 points respectively.

Chhattisgarh got off to a good start netting 25-8 in the first quarter while the half-time score stood at 37-17. The host kept up the consistent showing in the next two quarters and was able to endure a resurgent Maharashtra which scored 38 points in the last two quarters with Sayle Deole (13) top scoring.

In the three quarterfinal matches held late on Friday, Punjab beat Orissa 66-49 while Uttar Pradesh thrashed Maharashtra 61-16 to progress into the last-four stage. In the girls' section Madhya Pradesh had to delve deep into its resources to get the better of Karnataka by a slender margin of five points for a 47- 42 win.

lThe results: Boys: Semifinals: Punjab 67 (Harbeer Singh 11, Sangram Singh 10) bt Chandigarh 28 (Neeraj Bhoopa 15); Uttar Pradesh 84 (Sunil 34, Tridip 22) bt Andhra Pradesh 68 (S.N. Yadav 15, Jonikal 12).

Quarterfinals: Punjab 66 (Amit Parmar 20) bt Orissa 49; Uttar Pradesh 61 (Rajdeep 32) bt Maharashtra 16.

Girls: Semifinals: Chhattisgarh 74 (Poonam Singh 27, Anju Lakra 13) bt Maharashtra 55 (Sayle Deole 13); M.P. 54 bt Kerala 51.

Quarterfinals: Madhya Pradesh 47 (Sunanda Jain 14) bt Karnataka 42.

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Section  : Sport
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