Delhi side continued its winning streak

Bhilwara, Rajasthan: The experienced Delhi side continued its winning streak to end the league stages on a high. Internationals Raspreet Sidhu, Prashanti Singh and Preeti Kumari connected from outside and inside to take their side to a convincing 69-43 win. For opponents Uttar Pradesh, this fourth straight loss means that it will now be relegated to the lower Level, while Delhi progresses to the quarterfinals as the second seeded team from Group ‘B’.

Kerala men avoided relegation with their face saving win in their last league assignment and in the process sent hosts Rajasthan down to Level 2 for next year. The first half, in particular, was exciting with back to back buzzer beaters at the end of the first and second quarters.

Uttarakhand men too eased into the quarterfinals as the top seeded team from Group A, easily beating Chhattisgarh to stay undefeated after four league games. In contrast, bottom placed Chhattisgarh was condemned to the lower Level 2 for next year.

Vying for top honours in Level 1 Men’s Group ‘B’, the undefeated sides Punjab and Services locked horns. Punjab teams have always been overflowing in talent, while Services men have tons of experience behind them. In this battle between talent versus experience, Punjab had the upper hand in the first quarter, taking a 19-9 lead. The second quarter saw a furious fightback by Services which outscored Punjab 27-14 to take a slender three point lead at halftime. The second half began with Services continuing its scoring spree. International point guard Joginder Singh was money from downtown and would eventually end the match with 21 points, all of which came from beyond the three point line. 7 ft giant Satnam Singh Bhamara’s double double of 26 points and 22 rebounds couldn’t prevent his team from going down 66-79 at the final buzzer. Services and Punjab are both through to the quarterfinals from their Group as the top two teams with a 4-0 and 3-1 record respectively.

Afternoon Results from 2-1-2015 (upto 6:00 PM)

Level 1

Women

1)      Delhi (Raspreet Sidhu 15, Prashanti Singh 12, Preeti Kumari 11) bt Uttar Pradesh (Radha 15, Nimarika 12) 69-43 [17-15, 25-7, 12-14, 15-17]

Men

1)      Kerala (Manoj R 27, Basil Philip 22, Albin Baby 18) bt Rajasthan (Harshvardhan 19 pts & 16 rbs, Sharad D 16) 85-66[21-23, 24-10, 22-17, 18-16]

2)      Uttarakhand (Amritpal Singh 27 pts & 11 rbs, Trideep Rai 17, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 10) bt Chhattisgarh (Ajay Pratap Singh 20, Kiranpal Singh 15) 80-47 [19-14, 28-7, 11-7, 22-19]

3)      Services (Joginder Singh 21, Narender Grewal 19, Jairam Jat 13) bt Punjab (Satnam Singh 26 pts & 22 rbs, Gurkirpal Singh 12) 79-66 [9-19, 27-14, 24-14, 19-19]

Loser’s Knockout Semifinals (Level 2)

Men

1)      Gujarat (Vinay Kaushik 26, Dishant Shah 23) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Iqbal 17) 87-47 [25-15, 16-11, 25-9, 21-12]

Women

1)      Assam (Anju 20, Kiran 7) bt Uttarakhand (Rhea 6) 43-19 [11-4, 14-8, 10-0, 8-7]