Mysuru, Jan 12:
New entrants Telangana handed a shock defeat on defending champions Chhattisgarh in a women’s section match of the 66th Senior National Basketball Championship here today.
The Telangana women’s side have been the surprise of the tournament so far with a strong show in all their matches. Against Chhattisgarh today, Telangana stuck to their fast-paced style of play and knocking down their open shots. They pulled away in the final minutes to clinch the match 79-72 (17-16, 15-22, 23-18, 24-16).
Despite last year’s MVP Poonam Chaturvedi putting up huge numbers with 46 points and 19 rebounds, Chhattisgarh’s other players had a poor shooting day on the fourth day of competitions.
Telangana played tight defence forcing 20 turnovers from the Chhattisgarh side, while limiting their own turnovers to just seven.
For Telangana Anusha Anto put up a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds. Divya P also had a big game with 23 points. All of Telangana’s players crashed the boards to pull down 23 offensive rebounds leading to 23 second-chance points.
In another women’s match, Indian Railways blew away last year’s runners up Delhi 83-33 (6-12, 35-5, 23-14, 19-2).
Railways completely overpowered their opponents, with forward Apporva Muralinath leading the way with 20 points. The Railways team has remained undefeated so far.
Telangana men, however, continued their losing streak, losing today against Indian Railways’ men. Railways established a lead early in the game and maintained it throughout to register a 94-53 victory, led by Somvier’s 21 points and Raj Kalbhor’s 15 points. (PTI)
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