Danish Qureshi of Hume High School, Mumbai and Nishanti of St. Joseph's Anglo Indian Secondary School, Chennai were crowned champions in the Junior NBA and Junior WNBA National Skills Challenge and earned an all-expense paid trip to the NBA headquarters in the United States on Monday.
Qureshi and Nishanti gave an impressive performance at the Indian Gymkhana basketball courts, exhibiting skills together with 50 youngsters from across the nation in the 10 - 12 age groups.
NBA star Brandon Jennings gave both winners a glittering trophy, a HP laptop and Adidas shoes. He also spoke to the players, passing on useful tips on the game and demonstrated a few skills.
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Indian women team captain, Geethu Anna Jose expressed delight at the talent displayed by certain youngsters and congratulated the winners for the effort which earned them an opportunity to train with an NBA coach and visit the NBA headquarters.
The 50 students, who participated in the Skills challenge, too went home all smiles as they were presented with a basketball ball, Adidas shoes and a trophy.
The Junior NBA and WNBA program in India, supported by Basketball Federation of India (BFI), HP, Spalding, and Ten Sports saw around 500 schools from five cities participate in the Skills Challenge, a competition that tests the participants' abilities in various basketball fundamentals, including dribbling, passing, and shooting.
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