Date:13/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/13/stories/2006051312262000.htm

Sport - Basketball

Kurnool, Anantapur in last four

Special Correspondent

JAGTIAL: Reigning champion Kurnool, Anantapur and Chittoor advanced to the girls' semifinals of the Andhra Pradesh junior inter-district basketball championships at the District Sports Authority (DSA) mini stadium court here on Friday.

The holder recorded a 36-18 win over Visakhapatnam, thanks largely to the playmaking skill of junior India camper Sandhya.

Anantapur's forward, Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) Academy product and State player in the recent Pune senior Nationals ,V. Sujatha, almost single-handedly steered her side to a 42-30 win over Karimnagar in another quarterfinal, after her side led by a slender two-point margin 21-19, half-way through.

Among the boys, last year's runner-up Ranga Reddy lost to West Godavari 54-67, being down 30-34 at the break. The coastal squad made sure it maintained a lead right through. By the last quarter, Ranga Reddy had run out of steam, not quite equal to the task of stopping its stronger opponent in its tracks.

The results: Boys: (Pre-quarterfinals): Karimnagar 61 (Mallaiah 20, L. Venkatesh 14) bt Nizamabad 41 (K. Venkatesh 17, T. Sharath 10), Vizag 49 (Nageswara Rao 14) bt Kurnool 40 (Tarun 10, Mansoor 13), West Godavari 67 (K.N.V. Ayyappa 15, A.D.L. Janardhan 14, I.V.P. Varma 15) bt Ranga Reddy 54 (Sankeerth 19, Varun 9).

Girls (Quarterfinals): Kurnool 36 (Padmavathi 15, Sandhya 9) bt Vizag 18 (Bhavani 8, Kalavathi 8), Anantapur 42 (V. Sujatha 24) bt Karimnagar 30 (J. Niharika 14, Ch. Mangamma 8), Chittoor 27 (Kruthika 13) bt Guntur 24 (Veeranagulu 13).