National Basketball championships: Tajinderbir, Arshjot help Punjab pip Chandigarh

In the battle for the final knockout berth in the men’s section, Punjab prevailed over Chandigarh 81-74 and entered the pre-quarterfinals of the 75th Senior National Basketball championships at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Thursday.

Both teams entered their final league fixture having lost all three games beforehand, making this encounter a virtual knockout.

It was an engrossing contest that saw the lead kept swinging between the neighbours in the first half before Punjab, last year’s runner-up, pulled away after the break. Tajinderbir Singh scored 19 points for Punjab.

Punjab seized the early momentum, taking a 13-4 lead, but Gandham Sai Roshan turned things around for Chandigarh, which scored the following 11 points to wrest back the initiative. Punjab skipper Gurwinder Singh then nailed two three-pointers to close out the first quarter 23-21 in his side’s favour.

In the next quarter, Chandigarh was more successful in creating chances, as Sanju Gabhiye and Rohan Roy put their side ahead by one point at half-time.

In the third quarter, Arshjot Singh was in the thick of things for Punjab, scoring six points quickly while also creating chances and effecting steals as Punjab pocketed 13 points in succession.

Though Chandigarh did its best to claw back into the game, Punjab held its nerve.

Important results: Women: Group A: Maharashtra 79 (Ankita Kumari 15, Reva Kulkarni 15, Siya Seodhar 15) bt Chhattisgarh 68 (Gulabsha Ali 24, Priya Sharma 14, Ishika Sharma 13, Nisha Kashyap 12); Karnataka 88 (Sruthi Arvind 26, H.M. Bhandhavya 13, Nidhi Umesh 12) bt Delhi 52 (Suman 12, Neha Hooda 11).

Group B: Madhya Pradesh 62 (Manvi Srivastava 17, Kushi Pal Singh 14, Gunvi Agarwal 10) bt West Bengal 47 (Ananya Mandal 13); Tamil Nadu 118 (Shree Varshini 18, S. Krithika 18, Antheya Daisy Evangeline 16, Harithra 14, Ashmitha 14) bt Gujarat 39 (Aahana George 18).

Men: Group A: Rajasthan 83 (Mohammed Ishan 31, Mahaveer 19, Lokendra Singh 15, Ashish Trivedi 12) bt Gujarat 75 (Vinay Kaushik 25, Sahaj Kumar Patel 16, Mirant Italia 11, Yogesh Mer 10); Tamil Nadu 103 (Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi 25, Pranav Prince 16, Arvind Kumar 12) bt Services 61 (T.S. Santosh 16, Hemant Sheoran 15).

Group B: Uttar Pradesh 80 (Harsh Dagar 30, Kushal Singh 20, Rishant Kumar 13, Prince Tyagi 11) bt Delhi 77 (Ravi Bhardwaj 19, Issac Thomas 15, M. Sivasakthivel 14, Jeethandar Singh 12, Ayush Sharma 11).

Punjab 81 (Tajinderbir Singh 19, Gurvinder Singh Sandhu 12, Arshjot Singh 12) bt Chandigarh 74 (Sanju Gajbhiye 18, Aditya 12, Gandham Sai Roshan 12).