'South Central Railway's Anusha Anto attempts a basket against Rising Star Chennai during the second semifinal'. Copyright Ekalavyas

‘South Central Railway’s Anusha Anto attempts a basket against Rising Star Chennai during the second semifinal’. Copyright Ekalavyas

The second All India Women’s Invitational Sports Tournament has tipped off at the newly refurbished Chamundi Vihar Indoor Stadium in Mysore, Karnataka. This tournament is being organized by the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, Karnataka as part of Dasara festivities. This year, basketball has been added as an event while retaining volleyball and field hockey from last year.  The Tournament, which began on 9th October, will end on 12th Oct and was inaugurated by Indian Field Hockey player, Arjuna Awardee Ashok Kumar, son of the legendary Dhyan Chand.

The Chamundi Vihar Indoor Stadium was initially constructed in 1997, a few months before that year’s National Games. Sources tell us that only a month ago, the indoor cement surface was refurbished into the top class wooden flooring that it is today.

This national tournament comes right at the heels of the State level sports tournament held at the same venue which concluded earlier this week. Seven teams are taking part in the first edition of the basketball tournament and have been divided into two Pools. Rising Stars Chennai, Krishna Menon Govt. Women’s College, Kannur and Mysore Division are in Pool A. Bhilai Steel Plant Chhattisgarh, South Central Railway, Secunderabad, Alpha Tamil Nadu and Belgaum Division are the Pool B Teams. The tournament is being played on a league cum knockout basis, with the top two teams from each Pool qualifying for the semifinals.

Complete League Results

Day Three (11/10/13)

1)    Mysore Division 53 ( Reshma 18, Navaneetha 16 ) bt Rising Stars, Chennai 42 ( Aishwarya Natraj 10, Gomathy 10 ) HT: 26-22

2)    Bhilai Steel Plant 81 ( Poonam Chaturvedi 32, Anjana Ekka 10) bt Alpha, Tamil Nadu 54 ( Sangeetha 17, Ragila Begum 15 ) HT: 49-23

3)    South Central Railway  53 ( Anusha Anto 22, Manda Meshram 12 ) bt Belgaum Division 18 ( Kavana 7, Madhuri K. 4 ) HT: 27-15

Day Two (10/10/13)

Evening Matches

1)    South Central Railway, Secunderabad 71 ( Anusha Anto 28, Manda Meshram 13 ) bt Alpha, Tamil Nadu 49 (Anila Augustine 10, Sunita Suren 10 ) HT: 32-21

2)    Bhilai Steel Plant, Chhattisgarh 74 ( Poonam Chaturvedi 29, Anjana Ekka 27 ) bt Belgaum Division, Karnataka 52 ( Madhuri K 15, Victoria 8 ) HT: 42-30

3)    Mysore Division, Karnataka 86 ( Navaneetha 36, Savitha 21)  bt KMGWC, Kannur 65 (Prami P Lal 21, Anju Pavithran 16)  HT: 39-36

Morning Match

1)    Alpha Tamil Nadu 48 (Anila Augustine 11, S Anitha 10 ) bt Belgaum Division 47 (Kavan 22,  Madhuri K 12 ) HT: 25-26

Day One (9/10/13)

1)    Rising Stars, Chennai 61 ( P Divya 20, P Akshaya 16 ) bt KMGWC, Kannur 47 ( Sruthi KK 17) HT: 27-24

2)    South Central Railway, Secunderabad 90 (Manda Meshram 35, Anusha 20 ) bt Bhilai Steel Plant, Chhattisgarh 45 ( Anjana 14, Sangeeta 10 ) HT: 43-33