He belongs to a rare breed. Always looking for an opportunity to promote sports in the Old City of Hyderabad and make optimum use of his key post in the City College Old Boys to ensure that the young talents in sports have a platform to showcase their skills. Not surprisingly, S. Hanumanth Rao prefers basketball because it is his first love to see bigger participation.
The just-concluded One-day invitational basketball tournament, sponsored by the Jagjivanram Education Development Society and the Nehru Yuv Kendra, Telangana, is another reminder of the passion this retired Customs & Central Excise official has.
Out on the City College basketball courts, to Hanumanth Rao's delight, CCOB Basketball Club won the title defeating Kendriya Vidyalaya (NPA) 29-23 in the final.
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The first quarter saw both the teams fighting to gain an upper hand and it was CCOB which managed a slender one-point lead at 11-10. Soon, it found its desired rhythm to increase the lead to four points. At one stage, it looked like KV would fight back as it reduced the lead but Harsh, Phani and Nagaraj combined well when it mattered most to help the CCOB emerge champions.
Bharathi Lakpathi Nayak, IAS (GAD), Telangana State Government, and R. Venktatesham, District Youth Coordinator, NYK, gave away the prizes.