CHENNAI: Hosts Tamil Nadu came up with an inspired performance to upstage defending men's champions Indian Railways 82-69 to post their second consecutive win in the 62nd senior National basketball championships here Saturday.
Tamil Nadu, who had defeated last year's semi-finalists Kerala 83-45 Friday night, maintained their momentum for a remarkable win over Railways with a rousing performance after an unsteady start.
Railways, who had beaten Uttar Pradesh, Friday, sorely missed forward Yadwinder Singh and pivotal Vishesh Bhriguvanshi both of whom had played key roles in the team's success in the previous two championships. The pair has since joined Uttarakhand and their absence hurt Railways.
At the start, a new-look Tamil Nadu, with seven debutants, were at the receiving end as Railways jumped to a 28-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the hosts made ground in the second quarter (29-15) to take the break 44-43.
After the lemon time, Tamil Nadu were on a roll as they took the next two quarters 18-11 and 20-15 for a sensational victory that lined them up nicely for not only a berth in the knock-out stage but also a bye into the quarter-finals if they top the group.
Starring for Tamil Nadu was Pratham Singh (21) while for Railways, Gagandeep Singh (25) played a lone hand.
Having beaten the group's top two teams, Railways and Kerala, and scheduled to take on Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh in their remaining league matches, Tamil Nadu appear certain to top the group with an all-win record.
Earlier, Kerala recovered from their Friday's shock defeat to post a thumping 83-54 win against Andhra Pradesh. Leading 49-36 at half-time, Kerala, spearheaded by Ajit VG (21) sustained the momentum in the second session to drub Andhra for whom Naveen K (13) was the top scorer.
Meanwhile, women's champions Indian Railways left nothing to chance and galloped to their second win in as many matches with a crushing 92-56 win over Maharashtra who just did not have it in them to stop their experienced opponents.
Railways' star player Geethu Anna Jose, who sat out Friday's game, announced her presence in telling fashion with 24 points as her team had the match all but sewn up at the half-way mark itself with a 52-32 advantage.
The results (preliminary league):
Men (Level 1) - Group A: Tamil Nadu 82 (Pratham Singh 21, Mihir Pandey 11, Sidheek Rawzak 10) bt Indian Railways 69 (Gangandeep Singh 25, Dilawar Singh 10). Ht: 44-43.
Kerala 83 (Ajit VG 21, Udrick P 15) bt.Andhra Pradesh 54 (Naveen K 13, Satish.K 9). Ht: 49-36.
Tamil Nadu 83 (Pratham Singh 20, Mihir Pandey 14) bt Kerala 45 (Manoj R 13, Ajeeth Sugunan 12). Ht: 44-29.
Group B: Uttrakhand 87 (Trideep Rai 34, Mohit Bandari 20) bt Chhattishgarh 52 (Ajay Pratap Singh 17, Ashutosh Singh 9). Ht: 44-25.
Level 2 - Group C: Himachal Pradesh 80 (Surjeet Singh 29, Ashok Kumar 16, Dilip Kumar 12) bt Jammu & Kashmir 69 (Iqbal Singh 23, Shubam Sharma 16, Ranbir Singh 9). Ht: 36-32.
Jammu and Kashmir 45 (Iqbal Singh 17, Amit Bharti 12) bt West Bengal 28 (Devnath Pal 8, Amar Swarnakar 6). Ht: 21-10.
Group E: Rajasthan 67 (Kamran 15, Mod Singh 8) bt Bihar 21 (Manavndra 9). Ht: 31-10.
Rajasthan 58 (Shiv Kumar 18, Mod. Singh 11, Hirendra Rathore 10) btMadhya Pradesh 33 (Siddharth Singh 9, Jaynesh Patel 8). Ht: 32-26.
Group F: Haryana 69 (Hemansheolam 17, Pradeep Kumer 14, Deepak Rathee 14) bt Assam 53 (Vinod 16, Virender 10). Ht: 35-31.
Women (Level 1) - Group A: Indian Railways 92 (Geethu Anna Jose 24, Anita Pauldurai 19, Anju Lakra 8) bt Maharashtra 56 (Shireen Limaye 18, Kritika Divadkar 12). Ht: 53-32.
Chhattishgarh 85 (Kavita 19, Seema Singh 17) bt Madhya Pradesh 63 (Deepika David 21, Madhu Sharma 17). Ht: 44-30.
Group B: Andhra Pradesh 67 (Manda Meshram 15, Aashna Ujwaney 15, Dhanya.K 13) bt Rajasthan 47 (Kavita Saini 11, Purjima Chouhan 10). Ht: 45-21.
Tamil Nadu 87 (Appoorva Nurlinat 22, Alagu Tamil 10) bt Rajasthan 33 (Anjali Sharma 11). Ht: 60-18.
Delhi 75 (Pratima Singh 26, Akansha Singh 17, Sonika Ohylan 11, Prashanit Singh 10) bt Kerala 48 (Jeena.PS 12, Kenny Susan Lalu 9, Soniya Joy 8). Ht: 39-19.
Level 2 - Group C: Karnataka 46 (Victoria Brijita 9, Svshmitha 9, Sinduri Shastri 6) bt Haryana 23 (Renu Rathee 7, Sarita Hooda 5). Ht: 32-18.
Group D: Uttar Pradesh 76 (Ranjana Singh 16, Monika Singh 12, Priya Singh 10) bt Gujarat 12 (Aziza Kazi 6). Ht: 49-8.
Group E: Puducherry 31 (S Kavita 8, RS Karpagam 8, L Sreedevi 8) bt.Chandigharh 22 (Kiran 12). Ht: 13-10.
Group F: Uttrakhand 48 (Bhavna 14, Aishwarya Nandini 14) bt Assam 33 (Garge Bhuyan 18). Ht: 24-20.
West Bengal 68 (Priyanka Kumari 13, Sukurmoni Oranon 12, Arundhaty Banerjee 11, Poushali Dutta 10) bt Bihar 36 (Mridula James 14, Aarti Singh 13). Ht: 26-22.
Bihar 27 (Sangeeta Kaur 12, Aarti Singh 8) 27 bt Assam 12 (Punam Shani 4, Garige Bhuvan 4). Ht: 17-10. West Bengal 51 (Madhu 10, Sukurmoni 8) bt Uttrakhand 6. Ht: 34-3.
