CHENNAI: Maybe, the disc jockey at the Nehru Indoor Stadium was onto something. As the third quarter between Tamil Nadu and Punjab in the quarterfinal of the ongoing senior nationals came to an end, ‘Singappenney’ reverberated throughout the arena.
The TN women’s team, who had started off the blocks quickly to lead 19-4, were trailing 52-59 with 10 minutes to go. Opponents Punjab had finally come to grips with the pace of the match. After slowly reeling them in with a mix of points from the bench as well as points from the point, they had taken their biggest lead of the match. That’s when the TN women’s team flipped a switch.
They attacked the rebounds, shots found the basket and they capitalised on turnovers. In the end, Tamil Nadu walked away to win 73-70. Remarkably, the TN team is really 12 girls, 11 of them studying Engineering or Arts in various city colleges while one is a school student in Coimbatore. “To finish in the top four at the senior nationals is big,” TN coach, R Delhi Raj, said after the match. “None of these players are appointment selections. They are all students.”
That’s the one difference between most men’s and women’s teams. While various employers stand in a line to hire men’s players, apart from the various Railway departments, there aren’t many options for women right now. So, when a women’s player shows her value, one of the Railway departments hires her.
Results (all quarterfinals)
Men: Tamil Nadu bt Kerala 81-57, Indian Railway bt Services 90-68, Karnataka bt Haryana 82-65, Punjab bt Uttarakhand 90-64. Women: Telangana bt Madhya Pradesh 72-64, Kerala bt Karnataka 83-79, Indian Railway bt Assam 94-36, Tamil Nadu bt Punjab 73-70.
Semifinal line-up
Men: Punjab vs Karnataka, Tamil Nadu vs Indian Railway Women: Tamil Nadu vs Indian Railway, Kerala vs Telangana
Full story: newindianexpress.com