Indian Bank and SCR through to semifinals

CHENNAI, AUG. 3. Indian Bank's shooting percentage dipped in the final quarter. Still the team managed to hang on to the early lead to beat Central Exercise & Customs, Cochin, at 74-66, and South Central Railway (SCR), Secunderabad had the pleasure of beating the Inter-Railway champion Western Railway at 82-69 in what looked like a revenge match in the Ace Basketball Club-IOB All-India tournament at the Somasundaram ground, T. Nagar, here on Friday.

Both Indian Bank and SC Railway moved into the semifinals.

It was a big challenge for the aging Indian Bank to tackle the Cochin outfit, which had both height advantage and the ability to put the rival on the mat. But because of lack of experience the visitors, despite a strong rally in the final quarter, missed the bus.

It was a tactical mistake too. Cochin Customs played at a leisurely pace which suited the Bankmen well right through. While Indian Bank's man to man defence was sharp and effective, the Cochin players were allowing ball handler Sunny, Moses Jeevanand and Jensen Peter to break free to shoot. In the second and third quarters India Bank had an edge because of its deceptive passes and shooting. Sunny and Jayashankar set up good passes for Moses and Jensen to shoot. The Cochin team was like a team in the dark alley. However, the visitors did well to hustle the Bankmen and cut down the lead in the last quarter in which Sunny Thomas unleashed some three pointers. Robin Antony and Subash Shenoy too contributed. But in rebound collection the Cochin side fumbled and Indian Bank switched to fast break.

SCR looked like a side out to avenge its defeat at the hands of Western Railway and it outpaced and outbasketed the rival after 60-all. At half time Western Railway was leading 38- 35 and the Secunderabad side was struggling to keep pace with the rival in basketing. However, Ravikumar did most of the damage with his steady shooting. Whether it was three-pointer or underboard basketing he did not fail. Having taken a 23-17 lead in the first quarter, SCR lost its rhythm for a while in the second and third (15-18 and 17-25). But rallied brilliantly in the final quarter to record a 27-9 tally.

* The results: QuarterfinalsIndian Bank 74 (Moses Jeevanand 14, Jensen Peter 10, Saravanan 10, Jayashankar 11, Sunny 21) bt Cochin Customs 66 (Sunny Thomas 14, Robin Antony 15, Subash Shenoy 18).

SC Rly. 82 (Ishlauddin 17, Prasad 16, Ravikumar 24, Vishal Kumar 10) bt Western Railway 69 (Ranjit Singh 29, Mahender Singh (sr.) 15, Ramkumar 11).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Gopi Chand elated
Next     : FIDE approves five Grand Prix rapid tournaments