The Hindu : Sport : TN men register remarkable win

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Sport

Sport

TN men register remarkable win

K. Keerthivasan

Tamil Nadu women script their second straight victory

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

GOOD DISPLAY: Tamil Nadu’s S. Robinson sparkled in the men’s match against Indian Railways in the senior National basketball championships at Surat on Thursday.

SURAT: S. Robinson lived up to his reputation while C.V. Dinesh gave a fleeting glimpse of his growing potential as Tamil Nadu recorded an impressive 73-67 victory over Indian Railways in its opening Pool ‘B’ men’s match of the Karp-Jyoti senior National basketball championships here on Thursday.

There was little to suggest that Tamil Nadu would stage a fightback after its lacklustre performance in the first two quarters. There were several mispasses, Chandrasekaran was struggling, pivot Mihir Pandey’s long-range shooting was off-target and Robinson flunked quite a few free throws. The coordination among the players was poor.

On the contrary, Railways was playing well. Pivot Yadwinder Singh was the man Railways looking to score and he didn’t disappoint.

The former champion was superb in attack and defence and led 23-15 in the first quarter and 42-30 at half-time.

Bounces back

The five-time champion Tamil Nadu found its groove quickly in the third quarter. The good news was that pivot Robinson started to find his feet. He found a way to dodge and convert the baskets.

More than that, he played a crucial role in defence stopping so many possible baskets. Out of his 26 points, nine came in the vital third quarter.

The star of the match, however, was Dinesh. The 23-year-old helped Tamil Nadu race ahead to win the match.

His speed and accuracy caught Railways by surprise. The 10 points he scored in the final quarter couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Tamil Nadu next takes on Punjab.

With three international players — Sambhaji Kadam, Dalip Kumar and Jai Ram Jat — in its ranks, Services beat Karnataka 92-56 in its opening Pool ‘A’ men’s match. Centre Settu stole the show with 24 points.

Second win

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu women scripted their second straight victory defeating Punjab 79-42.

In its third and last group match, TN meets Indian Railways.

Known for its gritty players, Chhattisgarh showed its calibre with a 79-63 win over Kerala in the women’s section. With four players making their debut, Chhattisgarh seldom appeared diffident and put up an outstanding show.

Chhattisgarh coach Rajesh Patel said his aim was to finish third like last time.

The results: Men: Pool ‘A’: Services 92 (Settu 24, Arockia Babu 15, Sambhaji Kadam 13, Dalip Kumar 12) bt Karnataka 56 (Sanjay 12).

‘B’: TN 73 (S. Robinson 26, C.V. Dinesh 16, Vineeth Revi Mathew 13) bt Indian Railways 67 (Jasjoth Singh 14, Vishesh 12, Yadwinder Singh 14, Prakash 10). ‘C’: HP 58 (Deepak 18, Surjeet 14, Ashok 10) bt Haryana 32 (Khushvinder 16); ‘D’: Chandigarh 59 (Balraj 25, Ashfaq 10, Arshdeep 10) bt J&K 50 (Iqbal 26, Vikas 10); ‘E’: MP 77 (Kuldeep 14, Sahiljeet 13, Rajesh 12) bt Jharkhand 38 (Charanjeet 11).

‘F’: Orissa 76 (Nayak 20, Behura 17, O’beien 15, Mohanty 14) bt Maharashtra 65 (Arjun 16, Siddhant 15).

Women: Pool ‘A’: TN 79 (Gokila 28, Neena Hareendran 16, Sangeetha 13) bt AP 42 (Kiranjeet Kaur 10); Indian Railways 111 (Seema Singh 14, Renjini Peter 10, Geetu Anna Jose 19, Kawaljit Kaur 12) bt AP 29 (Manda Meshram 11).