In the 74th edition of the meet, which wrapped up at the Emerald Heights International School in Indore on Tuesday, the men’s team from Rajasthan and the women’s team from Karnataka saved the best for last and became the new junior national basketball champions.
Following an early lead, Rajasthan and Karnataka both increased their lead to win the crowns for men and women respectively.
Karnataka used their speed to their advantage to defeat Punjab by 20 points (71–51), while the lanky Rajasthani boys crushed Chandigarh 107–49.
The women’s bronze medal match between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh was the lone thrilling match of the final day, with the visitors defeating the hosts 69-66. In the men’s bronze medal match, MP defeated Uttar Pradesh, the reigning champions, 71-49, in another lopsided contest.
Karnataka used their pace and a near-perfect shooting performance to take Punjab to task in the women’s final match.
Karnataka led by ten points after winning the first quarter, 14–11. They increased their lead to 10 points after winning the second quarter, 19–12. Following the change of ends, Karnataka maintained their dominance and went on to win the third and fourth periods, 18-11 and 20-17, respectively, to claim the title in grand fashion.
Despite their little stature, Karnataka outplayed the tall Punjabi girls in the battle of the boards, winning 55–45, and showed off their quickness by scoring as many as 16 fast-break points to only four for their opponents.
Adhya Nagalinga, the captain of Karnataka, and post guard Aadhya Gowda both scored 16 points, while 15-year-old shooting guard Aditi Subraminiam, their semifinalist, added 12 points. Chanda Gouttam (20), Nadar Dhillon (15), and Komalpreet Kaur (12) all performed admirably for Punjab.
Coach Satyanarayana K of Karnataka was ecstatic. “Our team in this tournament was an ordinary one. We didn’t think we would win the championship. Our opening-round 40-point thrashing of Tamil Nadu proved to be a turning moment in the ladies’ determination to give it their all. Even though we were narrowly defeated in the second game, we improved and gained confidence. We responded appropriately to the circumstances, achieved the intended outcomes, and are delighted to take home the gold, Satyanarayana told TOI.
The men’s championship match between Rajasthan and Chandigarh was an unfair match, just as the women’s final. Rajasthan made good use of their height to win the championship game by as much as 58 points (107-49).
Rajasthan controlled the second quarter, 19-7, to take a comfortable 23-point advantage into the break after dominating the first quarter, 25-14. After the lemon break, Rajasthan maintained their lead and gave Chandigarh no opportunity to rally.
The majority of the scoring was done by Rajasthan’s shooting guards Nitesh Kumar (28), Ajay Kumar (27) and Mayank Jawa (19), however their tallest center, Muhammad Ishan, had a double double with 12 points and 20 rebounds. Gaurav Kumar Singh (22) and Om Sitta Prangya (10) both received double-digit scores for Chandigarh. Chandigarh was outrebounded 65–34 by Rajasthan.
The match between the tournament favorites Maharashtra and the hosts Madhya Pradesh, who both lost their semifinal matches with great ferocity, was the exciting match of the final day. Maharashtra won the nerve-wracking match by three points (69-66) because to their adept handling of the strain.
The notable scorers were Ananya Maheshwari (15) and Gunvi Agrawal (16) of Madhya Pradesh, while the winners were Gunjan Mantri (16), Muskan Singh (15), Aanaya Bhavsar (15), and Rajvi Maladhari (7).
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