Date:01/02/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/02/01/stories/2003020104352300.htm

Sport - Basketball

It's Tamil Nadu vs Punjab

By M.C. Raman

Tamil Nadu's Sridhar makes a desperate attempt to steer clear of Services defender in the semifinal match. (Right): Punjab's Pritinder Singh trying to score off an offensive rebound against Jharkhand in the other semifinal of the 53rd senior National basketball championship in Hyderabad on Friday. — Photos: Mohammad Yousuf

Hyderabad Jan. 31. It is amazing how two teams placed at different extremes eliminate all the opposition to get ready for the final showdown in the men's final on Saturday. Tamil Nadu, a young and vibrant side with a penchant for an American style of play, gunned down Services for the second time in the 53rd National senior basketball championship at 98-72 for a place in the final and Punjab, an aging outfit trying to rejuvenate itself with some youngsters, beat Jharkhand 82-56 at the Swanandhra indoor complex here on Friday.

From the 90s both Tamil Nadu and Punjab have been arch rivals for the major National titles. Their rivalry may not be as fierce as Lakers v Celtics was, but certainly there have been fireworks when they have clashed. However, in the last three years, Tamil Nadu has emerged as the best team in the country, crushing the hopes of Punjab. In the last National championship and National Games, the Southern side got the better of Punjab quite convincingly to make it an impressive matching winning record in recent years.

As the Chinese say there is a point beyond which one cannot go. Services reached that point and any amount of its hustling and rough-and-tough tactics did not disturb the three-in-a-row champion Tamil Nadu's march to victory. There were only a few aberrations in Tamil Nadu's game. Robinson unnecessarily tried to do the job of ball-handling which affected his scoring percentage when Shiva Kumar was there. And at times Tamil Nadu's centre looked dazed because of the early clash with the Armymen under their basket. Shabeer Ahmed was not really putting his heart in defence and allowed Phool Singh to move freely at times. That was dangerous because Phool Singh found his touch in shooting. That was the reason for Tamil Nadu's low 25-24 scoring in the first quarter.

However, the defending champion got into its groove in the second quarter as Sridhar was driving in to score from close. With Gopinath setting the right tempo Tamil Nadu accelerated the basketing in the second quarter, but Sukhavaneshwar, who was scoring well, ran up five fouls. But with so many point guards there was no reason for Tamil Nadu to panic. When Shiva Kumar took over from Gopinath Tamil Nadu went on in full steam. At half time the champion side was ahead 53-38. That was the toughest part of the match.

However, in the second half Services was in trouble as Harendra had to leave with five fouls. Shambaji Kadam, a brilliant ball handler with magic passes, who was shaken by a nose injury on Thursday, prompted the attack well in the third quarter as Peter John began to convert away shots. But Kadam got into a tussle and had another punch on his nose before leaving the court. That slowed down the Services game further and Tamil Nadu outbasketed the rival with a 25-15 score in the final quarter.

Jharkhand gave an exhibition of how not to play basketball. It started well with Mohit Bandari shooting superbly from all angles. It took a 18-7 lead and Punjab was shaken by the speed and thrust of Jharkhand. But what Jharkhand did not realise was that in basketball it is the end game that matters. More than that Jharkhand's defence was next to nothing. Allowing Gagnesh to shoot freely was suicidal and when the short man picked up his basketing he pushed Punjab to a comfortable 42-38 lead at half-time. And then Parminder Singh (sr) took over. Des Raj's shooting alone could not save Jharkhand and it was routed in the second half.

Railways women did not have to sweat much against Madhya Pradesh and entered the final with a 79-36 win. MP did fight in the beginning but when it came to rebound collection it suffered because of Ivy Cherian and Renjini Jose. Savitha Deshwal, Prasanna and Meenakshi Rao tried hard to get past the tough defence, but did not succeed. With its tremendous height advantage and array of shooters Railways pulled down the shutters on MP quickly.

However, Delhi, which set a record in 1999 by being the first qualifier to reach the women's final, did it again by edging out Kerala 59-50 in the semi-final in which it did not impress, but managed to keep the Kerala girls in check for most part of the game.

It was a good start for Kerala when Ligi George unleashed two three-pointers and a shot to give it a head start. But Divya and Sheeba Maggon began to move in for the kill. Delhi set the pace and controlled the rebounds better. In fact, Sheeba was not at her shooting best. Still Delhi managed to take a 26-16 lead at half-time. Kerala missed too many shots. Delhi was no better. But Delhi at least picked up the basketing in the second quarter. Kerala came back in the third but the margin was not big enough. Rollin Sara, Rameshwari, Rajalakshmi and Savitha did not allow Ambily to shoot freely. It was a tough one-on-one defence and Kerala was tiring out.

The results (all semifinals):

Men: Tamil Nadu 98 (Robinson 34, Sridhar 29, Sukhavaneshwar 18, Shabeer Ahmed 11) beat Services 72 (Peter John 12,Phool Singh 12); Punjab 82 (Gagnesh Kumar 28, Parminder Singh 23, Prithipal Singh 13) beat Jharkhand 56 (Des Raj 22Mohit Bandari 11, Bhuvaneshwaran 10).

Women: Railways 79 (Ivy Cherian 17, Manisha 11, Anju Lakra 11) beat Madhya Pradesh 36 (Savitha Deshwal 15, Meenakshi Rao 11); Delhi 59 (Sheeba Maggon 19, Divya 13) beat Kerala 50 (Ligi George 18, Ambili Thomas 10).