KOCHI: As many as 250 former basketball players and coaches from across the country and abroad gathered at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kadavanthra here on Saturday to rekindle the memories of their years in the sport. The reunion was organised by Team Rebound, a registered charitable society founded in 2016 by former basketball players to promote and popularise the game, as part of their third annual conclave.
The legendary hoopsters in attendance included former India captains Mathew Sathya Babu, Unwin J Antony, Leelamma Santhosh and C V Sunny. International players including Mohammed Iqbal, Jeena Zacharia, Ambily Thomas, Sheeba Augustine, Joshyama Geoge, V V Harilal, Renny Harilal and Zacharia Thomas were among those who also attended.
The former stars participated in veteran matches in various categories. In the men’s above 60 category, Rebound Shockers, led by former India international Tom Thomas, defeated Donut Generals, led by 76-year-old veteran V T Xavier, 25-9.In the men’s under-60 category, Purackal Honda, captained by former Services player M Amaranth, beat IBA Trailblazers 31-15 . They will now play Team Manappat anchored by Unwin who defeated Data 4 Basketball.com 38-23 for a place in the final. The reunion will conclude on Sunday when Kerala women, who won the Federation Cup, the gold-medal winning Kerala junior team, and the Calicut University team that completed a hat-trick of All-India Inter-University titles will be felicitated.