Sport - Basketball

Indian Railways back on track

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

FIRING AWAY: Yadwinder Singh of Indian Railways on his way to scoring in the National basketball championship.

SURAT: Indian Railways had shown no signs of being a transformed team. A patchy performance in the pool matches and giving a minor notice of its capabilities only in the tie against Punjab, the Railways men’s team, barring a consistent display from pivot Yadwinder Singh, did not in any way look a top-notch team.

Added to his woes, filtered in the tragic news — shortly before its semifinal match against defending champion Services — that coach Ramkumar’s younger brother Ashok Kumar, a former international, had passed away.

The Karp-Jyoti 59th Senior National basketball championships on Tuesday saw the Railways men’s team play with a determination and tactical nous not seen — at least — in this tournament. Its 89-72 victory was a masterstroke well fashioned at the boardroom and rightly executed on the court.

The win should be credited to forward Gagandeep Singh. The 23-year-old scored off rebounds as a matter of right to emerge the topscorer.

Railways will meet Tamil Nadu in the final. In a close match that could have gone either way, TN overcame Uttarakhand 74-71.

Projected as the overwhelming favourite for its speed, Services was out-thought and out-played by Railways.

Services started in a whirlwind fashion with star playmaker Sambhaji Kadam and heavyweight pivot Dalip Kumar in their element. It looked like a Services show as it led 20-16 in the first quarter.

The winds of change began to sweep in the second quarter and it turned out to be Railways’ domination. Gagandeep, Snehpal Singh and Yadwinder Singh kept up the pressure and with short quick passes found the target regularly.

When Services made efforts to play catch-up, Jasjot Singh’s three-pointer helped it to take a six-point lead at half-time.

Gagandeep and Snehpal took it upon themselves in the third where Railways took a defining 14-point lead. Despite taller defenders doing all they could to stop them from scoring, the two merrily found baskets much to the annoyance of the Services men.

Railways’ assistant coach Senthil Selvan, filling in for Ramkumar, shuffled his players rather intelligently.

Tamil Nadu’s Chandrasekharan, one of the key players in its five consecutive Nationals victories from 2000-2005, was found wanting in the earlier matches. Reputed to be a forward who could score three-pointers when his team wanted, he was struggling to find his rhythm here. Against Punjab, he seemed to be finding his touch. Chandru, as he is called, finally got going against Uttarakhand.

His four three-pointers turned out to be quite crucial. Most important, he was moving better and combining well with other forwards.

In the women’s semifinal, Delhi put paid to the hopes of Tamil Nadu winning 88-45. At half-time, Delhi led 51-18 at half-time.

In the Basketball Federation of India’s annual general body meeting, it was decided that the next Nationals would be held in Ludhiana.

Harish Sharma, Secretary, BFI, told the Hindu that a new code of constitution for all the states is likely to be put in place in the next two or three months.

This was necessary, he said, in the wake of what has happened in Tamil Nadu. He also said he is sure to come to Chennai sometime this month to sort out the issues between the two factions (in Tamil Nadu).

The results (semifinals): Men: TN 74 (R. Chandrasekharan 24, S. Robiinson 21, Vineeth Revi Mathew 12) bt Uttarakhand 71 (Trideep Rai 28, Suresh Ranot 11); Indian Railways (Gagandeep Singh 20, Jasjot Singh 18, Yadwinder Singh 14) bt Services 72 (Dalip Kumar 19, Arokia Babu 16, S. Settu).

Women: Indian Railways 84 (Geethu Anna Jose 16, Ranjini Peter 14, P. Anitha 13, S. Manisha 11) bt Chhattisgarh 57 (Deepa 15, Kavita 10). Delhi 88 (Prashanti Singh 20, Shiba Maggon 19, Akansha Singh 11) bt TN 45 (S. Kokila 18, Deepa 11).

Losers’ knockout (final): Women: Men: MP 108 bt HP 73; Women: Chandigarh 47 bt Rajasthan 33.

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