Kerala Girls and Haryana Boys take home National Basketball Championships

The finals of the 36th Youth National Basketball Championships that were held in PSG Indoor Sports Complex saw the Kerala Girls Team and Haryana Boys team shine high in a sensational finals match on 21.5.2019.

The girls finals was between the host state Tamil Nadu and  the guest Kerala. The girls from ‘God’s Own Country’ scored 80 pts while the ‘Enchanting Tamil Nadu’ girls managed to score 69 pts and faced defeat.  Ann Mary Zachariah of Kerala Girls Team won the Best Player Award while Sathya of Tamil Nadu Team won the Promising Player Award.

Meanwhile in Boys segment, the Haryana team scored 81 pts and defeated Kerala who grabbed 74 pts. The first half of the match saw both the teams bring their A game to the floor and the score was tied in  the second quarter 36-36. The northerners managed to pull their magic which made the second half a slippery one for the Kerala team.  Sahil Taya of Haryana won the Best Player Award for Boys.

Earlier, in the tournament held in the day of finals at 8.00 am, the girls team from Rajasthan and Punjab fought for third and fourth places. Rajasthan won the third place by scoring 48 points while Punjab settled for fourth place as it secured 47 points. In the men’s team, Rajasthan and Karnataka clashed. Rajasthan grabbed the third place scoring 92 points over Karnataka which got placed in the fourth place by securing 68 points.

Govindaraj, President, Basketball Federation of India, was the Chief Guest of the prize distribution function.

A Men’s Team cash prize of Rs. 1.5 lakhs, a trophy and a citation were presented to Haryana in the men’s wing. A cash prize of Rs. 1 lakhs and cup were presented to Kerala the second placed team. The Men’s team from Karnataka, which was third placed received a cash award of Rs. 50,000.00, cup and citation.

In the women’s finals A cash prize of Rs. 1.5 lakhs, a trophy and a citation were presented to Kerala. A cash prize of Rs. 1 lakhs and cup were presented to Tamilnadu the second placed team. The women’s team from Rajasthan, which was third placed received a cash award of Rs. 50,000.00, cup and citation.

Chander Mukhi Sharma, Secretary General, Basketball Federation of India was the Chairperson. V. Raghothaman, Treasurer, Basketball Federation of India, L M Ramakrishnan, Correspondent, , Bharathi Vidya Bhavan,  Erode;  VVR Raj Sathyan, President of TN Basketball Association; General Secretary Adhav Arjuna; Sr vice President Sendhil Thyagarajan; Treasurer T.A. Andhrapathi; Mr G Selvaraj, President, Coimbatore District Basketball Association and JMD of CRI Pumps Pvt. Ltd.; R Rudhramurthy, Principal, PSG College of Technology and President of PSG Sports Club were also present at the prize distribution function.