The All India Basketball Tournament for Men and Women that are being jointly organized by Coimbatore District Basketball Association along with Sakthi Groups and CRI Pumps had their inaugural matches that were held at the Corporation Basketball Court near VOC Park.
The men are competing for the Nachi Muthu Gounder Trophy while the women are fighting for the CRI Trophy. In men’s inaugural, the match was held between Indian Air Force and CDBA.
Air Force’s Gulia and Rajeev lined up 3 pointers while Saharan scored 2 pts and the first quarter started to be on the side of Air Force. CDBA’s Silambu answered it with a 3 pointer of his own and Vinith stepped in to add 2 pts. Silambu again added a 2pts but was unable to stop the Air Force from scoring big. The first quarter ended with Air Force and CDBA scoring 29-7.
At the second quarter, Anto of CDBA acted as the game changer and joined Silambu and Vineeth in keeping the spirit alive. With a nice lay-up shot, he kept the fight going but he found his equal in Air Force’s Rajeev who received an alley-oop from Gulia and connected it for a spectacular 2pts. Gulia added a 3 pointer and the 2nd quarter ended 41-15 with Air Force still in lead while CDBA was trailing.
With Silambu injured, Anto had to up his game to another level as his opponents especially Rajeev was scoring more each quarter. A huge 3 pointer came from Tim of CDBA and Sharan replied with a 3 pointer. Anto, as the game demanded more from him delivered a masterful layup, confusing the defense and on his next ride, stepped inside the paint while Vinith threw a pass to him and he floated the ball and scored a basket.
Tom of CDBA made a huge block and defended the home court. The hosting city stars started to turn the match in their favor but Rajeev added a 3 pointer and the match was still in huge favor of Air Force. CDBA was not going down without a fight and Anto, Vinith once again connected well at the rim and the score at the end of 3rd quarter was 56-33.
Anto and Vineeth with the support of Pavi, Ramulu and Tim started to cut the lead as the all added 2 pointers and Anto was exhibiting leadership; took the ball, stepped in the paint and went airborne, drew a foul from Air Force and connected a nice layup. The lead taken by Air Force and a superb performance from Gulia, Rajeev and Sharan brought them the victory over CDBA with the final score 71-58.
Southern Railways faced the Kerala State Electricity Board in the Women’s First Match. Southern Railways defeated KSEB in a 48-42 score set.