T.N., Kerala bag titles

By Our Sports Reporter

CHITTOOR, OCT. 31. Tamil Nadu men retained their title by beating Karnataka 88-61 in the last round-robin league encounter while Kerala women clinched the crown by getting the better of host Andhra Pradesh 60-44 in the crucial final round-robin league matches of the 43rd Amaron South Zone-Sri Lanka basketball championship for men and women which concluded at the DSA Stadium here today.

In a lopsided encounter, Kerala simply outplayed the host who were badly hit by the absence of their star performer in the previous matches, Sofi Sam, who had to join the Osmania University squad for the All-India university meet. It was an insipid display and Andhra Pradesh didn't deserve to be the winner at any cost.

There was a lot of confusion in defence and the shooting was erratic in the Andhra Pradesh camp in sharp contrast to the methodical display by the rival. Definitely, the Kerala hoopsters, particularly Rigi A. Sunny and Binu Raju, showed a lot of enterprise by relying on their skills and not like their counterparts who seemed to have forgotten the basics. But for the spirited efforts of Jetty Jose in the first session and Laiji and Siciley in the second, there was nothing much to rave about the Andhra women's display.

On the other hand, what impressed the huge crowd was the enterprise and imagination of the Kerala duo of Binu Raju and Rigi on top of the restricted zone.

The men's clash between defending champion Tamil Nadu and Karnataka was off to an exciting start with the latter putting up a much better show compared to the dismal defeat at the hands of Andhra last night. In fact, the difference between the two teams was very little.

This was primarily because Tamil Nadu's shooting was off target. As usual, it was the J. Murali Mohan-Basavaraj combine which kept the Tamil Nadu's hoopsters at bay. Though Moses Jevanand and Robinson worked in tandem for Tamil Nadu, they failed inside the scoring zone much to the dismay of their camp.

After leading by a slender margin of 16-12 at the end of first quarter, the frustration was discernible in the Tamil Nadu camp. This was pretty much evident by the totally unnecessary body blow given by Robinson to Karnataka's S. Stalin in the second quarter. The latter had to be carried off the court in an unconscious state to the hospital with a head injury.

Stung by that ugly incident, Karnataka looked a bit bemused. This was the phase when the mercurial K.R. Siva Kumar and the wily S. Sivarajan worked wonders. With the former virtually picking the spot to relay his superb passes to the waiting Sivarajan, Karnataka's defence lay in shambles. The two were just unstoppable. The way Sivarajan moved with freedom inside the restricted zone to score so many points including three three- pointers was the highlight of the match. At half- time, Tamil Nadu led 43-35.

Expectedly, Tamil Nadu went on the offensive on resumption. Sivarajan was moving like a hare creating added confusion in the Karnataka camp. With international Robinson being the only player in the match to score off the dunk shots, there was very little the hapless Karnataka hoopsters could do.

lThe results:

Men: Tamil Nadu 88 (K.R. Sivakumar 11, S. Sivarajan 30, Moses Jeevanand 10, M. S. Shabbir Ahmed 10, S. Robinson 18) bt Karnataka 61 (J. Murali Mohan 23, Basavaraj 16).

Women: Kerala 60 (Binu Raju 12, Rigi A. Sunny 18) bt Andhra Pradesh 44 (U. P. Laiji 13, Siciley 10, Jetty Jose 13).

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