Date:26/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/26/stories/2006112606161600.htm

Sport - Basketball

Idukki makes semifinal

Principal Correspondent

Manjeri: Idukki and Pathanamthitta men entered the semifinals of the Akbar Travels 51st State senior basketball championships on Saturday.

In the women's section, Kollam, Kottayam and Ernakulam made the last four stage.

Kollam and Kottayam made it by virtue of being the group winners of pool `A' and Pool `B' respectively while Ernakulam defeated Kozhikode 28-12 to qualify.

The men's quarterfinal between Idukki and Kannur turned out to be dramatic with Idukki resting its key players in the second half. Kannur snatched the opportunity and forced Idukki to reintroduce its star players again when it appeared that the match would slip out of its hands.

Idukki played at a sedate pace in the first two quarters to take a 27-19 lead at half-time. After the break, Idukki rested its starting five and tested its bench strength. But it turned out to be an experiment that nearly backfired.

The substitutes appeared rusty and Kannur grew in confidence and improved its game a few notches to equalise in the last quarter. But Monish Wilson and Bobit Mathew returned to restore sanity and guided Idukki to a narrow win.

Pathanamthitta, packed with migrant Kerala University stars, was too good for Thrissur. Pathanamthitta overwhelmed its rival with its clean shooting from far and near the board. And it hardly put a foot wrong in its rebound collection. Both Shinto George (21 points) and A.S. Akbar (14 points) made their presence felt in both attack and defence.

From the start, Thrissur looked jaded and its shooting was awry. Only Jerald P. Titus (18 points) could create an impression. Thrissur fell 7-19 behind in the first quarter and never recovered.

The results: Men (quarterfinals): Idukki 58 (Monish Wilson 11, Robin Antony 10, Jobin Joseph 10) bt Kannur 54 (K.R. Nikhil 16); Pathanamthitta 65 (Shinto George 21, A.S. Akbar 14) bt Thrissur 37 (Jerald P. Titus 18). League: Wayand 75 (Ullas Jose 22) bt Kannur 57 (Jhamsheer 17); Thrissur 56 (Ajesh 13, Manu Jayaram 13) bt Palakkad 48.

Women (quarterfinal): Ernakulam bt Kozhikode 28-12. League: Ernakulam 48 (Simi Jose Kavalakad 13, Jilna Raj 10, J.T. James 10) bt Thrissur 46 (Greeshma Varghese 15, Gigi Peter 11); Kollam bt Thiruvananthapuram 26-14.