The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : ONGC in final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 02, 2004

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Sport - Basketball

ONGC in final

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 1. The team played quite subdued, perhaps conserving its energy for the final assault. All the same, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Dehra Dun, cruised into the final with a 88-75 victory over Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, after leading 40-30 at halftime in the 32nd all-India Master Prithvi Nath Sharma memorial basketball tournament at the Prithvi Nath Stadium, Ajmal Khan Park, here on Friday evening.

It was the second victory for ONGC in the four-member league, and the team tested its bench strength, playing just hard enough to ensure that ICF did not surprise it in the climax, though the latter played much better in the second half.

There was some chance of ICF making a match of it as it came three points close to ONGC at 46-49, with a quick burst in the third quarter but ONGC accelerated comfortably to keep the challenger at a healthy distance.

Desh Raj, Suresh Kumar and Nishant Kumar shared the burden of keeping the score board ticking with their efficient play, while Shabbir Ahmed and Sridhar chipped in usefully.

For ICF, Sikandar Ali Raja top-scored, while the rest of team rallied around him to make a fight of it. The team showed a semblance of its form that had seen it beat DLW, but OnGC controlled the game far too well to allow much scope for ICF this day.

Meanwhile, in the women's section, Southern Railway booked the second berth for the final behind the all-conquering South East Central Railway. Southern Railway recorded its third win, as it beat the Indian juniors rather easily with a 17-point margin.

The results:

Men: ONGC, Dehra Dun, 88 (Desh Raj 22, Suresh Kumar 20, Nishant Kumar 20, Shabbir Ahmed 10, Sridhar 10) bt ICF, Chennai, 75 (Sikandar Ali Raja 21, Ashwin 14, Tony Lesslie 12, P. Bhubalan 12, Rajan 10).

Women: Southern Railway 62 (Ranjini Jose 19, Shyamala Suguna Jothi 12, P. Anitha 10) bt Indian Juniors 45 (Bharathi Neelam 16).

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