Indian Navy opened its league outing with a commanding 73-54 win over South Central Railway (Secunderabad) in the 48th all-India basketball tournament for men for the PSG Trophy at the PSG College of Technology here on Tuesday.
A. Faizal (15 pts) turned out to be the day’s hero. The Navy star was all over the court from the start. He got enough support from his mates in the middle, and that made life miserable for the SCR men.
SCR chalked out various strategies to halt the free-flowing Faizal, but in vain. With Mandeep Singh giving him good company, Faizal steered the team to a convincing win. In the 11th all-India tournament for women for the CRI Pumps Trophy, hot favourite Southern Railway (Chennai), riding on the brilliance of international star Geethu Anna Jose, coasted to a comfortable 74-59 win over Western Railway (Mumbai).
L. Gopalakrishnan, Managing Trustee, PSG Institution, inaugurated the men’s event. R. Rudhramoorthy, Principal, PSG College of Technology, and Nandha Kumar, Secretary, PSG College of Arts and Science were also present.
The results:
Men: Indian Navy 73 (A. Faizal 15, Mandeep Singh 8) bt South Central Railway (Secunderabad) 54; ONGC (Dehradun) 69 (Trideep Rai 21, R. Murali Krishna 20) bt Income Tax (Chennai) 46 (Ram Kumar 19).
Women: Southern Railway (Chennai) 74 (Geethu Anna Jose 19) bt Western Railway (Mumbai) 59.
