Sport - Basketball

Punjab surprises Western Railway

Coimbatore: The men from Punjab played to a plan to outplay fancied Western Railway (Mumbai) 77-58 in the semifinal of the 42nd all-India basketball tournament for men for the PSG Trophy at the PSG Tech courts here on Friday.

Western Railway enjoyed a seven-point lead in the first quarter. But, it let slip the advantage in the next two quarters, which proved crucial.

Yadwinder and Jagdeep were the men who turned the tables in favour of Punjab during the second and third quarters. They reached the ring with ease and ensured that the scoreboard kept ticking.

Trideep and Riyazudeen, the danger men from Western Railway, tried similar tactics. The former was successful to some extent but the Punjab defence kept the rest in check for most part of the match.

In the fourth quarter, Western Railway pressed hard but it was Punjab, which did the bulk of the scoring.

Late on Thursday night, Punjab defeated ONGC (Dehradun) 80-56.

The results: Semifinals: Punjab 77 (Mizra 21, Jagdeep 21) bt Western Railway (Mumbai) 58 (Trideep Rai 27, Riyazudeen 14).

League: Punjab 80 (Jagdeep 29, Yadwinder 19) bt ONGC 56 (Suresh Kumar 13, Sridhar 10). — Sports Reporter

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