Tamil Nadu men, Chhattisgarh women win national basketball

Tamil Nadu men were crowned 64th national basketball champions while Chhattisgarh won the women's title at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex here Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu outclassed last year's finalists Punjab 74-57 in the final with Rikin Pethani top scoring with 22 points and winning a game-high 17 rebounds.

India international Pratham Singh too was on the mark notching 18 points while S. Prasanna chipped in with 15.

Punjab's centre Palpreet Singh, who scored heavily in the semi-final against defending champions Uttarakhand, couldn't have the same impact managing 19 points and seven rebounds.

Punjab, overall, failed to bring the same intensity as in their previous games. Tamil Nadu played a solid defensive game and were precise on the attacking front.

Services beat Uttarakhand in the third placed match while Indian Railways rounded off the top five.

Chhattisgarh won the women's title after a stunning 81-77 victory over Indian Railways in the final.

Chhattisgarh thus put an end to Indian Railways amazing run of 10 straight title triumphs with their narrow victory.

Kavita K. put in another match-winning performance notching up a game-high 25 points and picking up 13 rebounds. Saranjeet Kaur, too, was prolific netting 20 points and picking six rebounds.

India international Geethu Anna Jose, who has been Railways player of the tournament, failed to inspire her team, managing 17 points.

Anju Lakra was in fine form converting seven three-pointers and notching up 23 points.

Delhi finished third ahead of Maharashtra while Kerala took fifth place.

Harish Sharma most valuable player (women) went to Chhattisgarh's Kavita Kumari while Tamil Nadu centre Rikin Pethani took home the men's equivalent.

Results:

Men:

Tamil Nadu (Rikin Pethani 22, Pratham Singh 18, S.Prasanna 15, Revi Vineeth 11) bt Punjab (Palpreet Singh 19, Gurukripal Singh 12, Amritpal Singh 11) 74-57.

Women:

Chhattisgarh (Kavita 25, Saranjeet Kaur 20, Bharti Netam 16, Deepa L 11) bt Indian Railways (Anju Lakra 23, Geethu Anna Jose 17, Pushpa M 11, R Priyadharshani 11) 81-77.