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Basketball
Rajasthan's Moad Singh tries to score past Kerala defenders in the National basketball championships in Ludhiana on Saturday. - Photo: Sandeep Saxena
LUDHIANA, MARCH 9. Tamil Nadu and Punjab set themselves on track for a possible title clash by topping groups `A' and `B' respectively at the end of the superleague in the Airtel 52nd National basketball championship at the Guru Nanak Sports Complex here on Saturday. Both the teams did not drop a match in winning four each, but it had to be conceded that Tamil Nadu was a lot more authoritative than the host in asserting its supremacy. However, Punjab could take solace from the fact that it could check out the combinations, in tight situations, like the one against Services the other day and against Railways this day. Though it operates as a cohesive unit, Punjab tends to rely on the individual brilliance of its key players. It was Gagnesh Kumar's turn as the `livewire' proved brilliant throughout in slotting 45 points, including six three-pointers that swung the pendulum decisively in Punjab's favour after the initial struggle. The seasoned Ram Kumar gave a cracker of a start for Railways, taking the team to a 50-44 lead at half time, scoring 29 of those points himself, but the team lacked the firepower to play with such quality till the finish. Ram Kumar could score only six points in the second half. The `Crane' in the team, Mohammed Islauddin, was a disappointment for Railways, as he failed to understand his role, much to the chagrin of coach Ajmer Singh. With Punjab leading 74-70, it was anybody's match, but Gagnesh put the finishing touches to a nicety with support from Parminder Singh. Tamil Nadu was rattled by Karnataka a bit towards the end, that it had to put S. Robinson back on duty, which was in itself a credit to the fighting game of Karnataka as it had trailed 28-56 at halftime. Delhi through Delhi won thrilling matches one after the other, to set up a pre-quarterfinal with Kerala. The winner will run into Punjab in the quarterfinals. The other pre-quarterfinal will be between Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, with the winner taking on Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinals. The two other quarterfinals will be Services versus Karnataka and Railways versus Rajasthan. In the women's section, Chattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh won their knock-out matches to make the quarterfinals, tough ones against group toppers Railways and Kerala. The results: Men: Superleague: Group `A': Tamil Nadu 91 (S. Robinson 30, S. Sivarajan 20, P. Kannabiran 11) bt Karnataka 78 (Bhasavaraj 18, Raj Kumar 17, Austin Almeda 14, Stalin 12); Rajasthan 76 (Moad Singh 27, Mahipal Singh 18, Man Singh 14) bt Kerala 66 (Bobit Mathew 17, T. S. Abhilash 15, Sunny Thomas 11, Murali Krishnan 11). Group `B': Punjab 91 (Gagnesh Kumar 45, Parminder Singh jr 16, Parminder Singh 12) bt Railways 80 (Ram Kumar 35, Surjeet Singh 12, Mohammed Islauddin 11); Services 50 (Jayarangan 19, Vijay Kumar 11) bt West Bengal 28 (Amar Swarnakar 12); Jharkhand 65 (N.S. Rawat 23, Desh Raj 15, Vinay Sheoran 15) bt West Bengal 53 (Surajit Dey 17, Ramakrishna Kumar 11, Debjyoti Ghosh 10). Qualifying round: Delhi 79 (Yudhir Singh 22, Sandeep Singh 18, Sanjay Mohanti 14) bt Jammu and Kashmir 78 (Vipin Kumar 38, Varinder Kumar 22); Uttar Pradesh 84 (Trideep Roy 33, Mihir Pandey 29) bt Maharashtra 66 (Paresh Thorat 13, Sylvan Desmond 11, Bhavesh Kuchanwar 10). Women (pre-quarterfinals): Chattisgarh 81 (Poonam Singh 26, Anju Lakra 17, Seema Singh 16, J. Venu 10) bt Maharashtra 40 (Mithila Gujar 17); Uttar Pradesh 64 (Mareena 24, Divya Singh 18, Sashi 14) bt Assam 32 (Mayur Panjili 14).
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