Mizoram player (in white and red) attempts a 3 pointer against Himachal Pradesh (in light blue).

Mizoram player (in white and red) attempts a 3 pointer against Himachal Pradesh (in light blue) in the loser’s knockout finals (for lower pool teams).

Chandigarh, 13th October 2014: Semi-finals day did not disappoint at the 31st Youth National Basketball Championship in Chandigarh. The four semifinal matches scheduled today produced some sensational basketball. The Maharashtra girls were no competition for the Kerala team, who put on a basketball clinic and registered a 81-44 win. The other girls semi-final was a tight game between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Tamil Nadu held a double-digit lead for most of the match, but Karnataka made a late run to cut down the lead to single digits. Tamil Nadu kept its calm and managed to hold off Karnataka and advance to the final with a 65-58 win.

The first boys semi-final was between Kerala and Chhattisgarh. Kerala hit the ground running and built a 15-point lead early in the second quarter. However, Chhattisgarh went on a 15-2 run in the second quarter to bring the lead down to 3. The second half was a see-saw encounter, but Kerala employed small ball against the bigger sized Chhattisgarh team to pull away for a 63-55 win. The last semi-final for the boys was, by far, the most exciting match of the day, between Tamil Nadu and Haryana. The equally balanced teams thoroughly entertained the crowd present. The game saw multiple lead changes and the game was tied at 93-93 with under a minute to go and Tamil Nadu having possession. Tamil Nadu’s no. 12, J. Adarsh, scored the game winning lay-up with 34 seconds on the clock and Tamil Nadu ended up winning the game 95-93.

Apart from the semi-finals, the placement matches also took place today. The Delhi boys defeated Uttar Pradesh, 78-72 and the Punjab boys defeated Rajasthan 37-23. Delhi and Punjab faced each other soon after for 5th and 6th place. Delhi pulled off a 22-16 win to secure 5th place. The Rajasthan boys will face Uttar Pradesh later today to determine the 7th and 8th places. The classification match for 9th and 10th places was between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh won the game 69-64. The boys’ loser knockout final was won by Mizoram, who defeated Himachal Pradesh 67-48.  Out of the girls’ placement matches, the Delhi girls faced Punjab for 9th and 10th place. Punjab secured 9th place with a 80-43 win. Madhya Pradesh secured 5th place by defeating Chhattisgarh 33-26 and Haryana beat Andhra Pradesh 42-32 to secure 7th place.

A complete list of the results of the matches that have taken place on 13th October 2014 is as follows:

Girls:

Classification – 9th and 10th place

  1. Punjab (Prabjot Kaur 23) bt Delhi (Gurkiran 15) 80-43 (11-17, 15-9, 27-7, 30-10)

For 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th classification 

  1. Chhattisgarh (Divya 12) bt Haryana (Surya 20) 57-50 (19-9, 15-17, 7-16, 16-8)
  2. Madhya Pradesh (Barsa 8) bt Andhra Pradesh (Sharon 14) 33-23 (11-10, 12-3, 7-3, 3-7)

For 5th and 6th place 

  1. Madhya Pradesh (Simran 9) bt Chhattisgarh (Manisha 10) 33-26 (15-5, 8-5, 7-7, 3-9) 

For 7th and 8th place 

  1. Haryana (Surya 17) bt Andhra Pradesh (Sharon 9) 42-32 (16-10, 10-14, 10-8, 6-0)

Semi-finals 

  1. Kerala (Nivya Raj 23) bt Maharashtra (Shruti Sherigar 8) 81-44 (12-10, 21-13, 22-14, 26-7)
  2. Tamil Nadu (Ria Sharon A. 13) bt Karnataka (Lopamudra T. 23) 65-58 (14-16, 23-4, 16-19, 12-19)

Boys:

Losers Knockout Final 

  1. Mizoram (Zorinsanga 19) bt Himachal Pradesh (Arvind 14) 67-48 (15-11, 15-9, 19-16, 18-12)

Classification – 9th and 10th place 

  1. Madhya Pradesh (Rishabh Sharma 19) bt Maharashtra (S. Jamir 19) 69-64 (9-24, 18-8, 16-19, 26-13)

For 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th classification 

  1. Delhi (Hansraj 22) bt Uttar Pradesh (Dheeraj 29) 78-72 (20-16, 21-21, 17-19, 20-16)
  2. Punjab (Ajit P. 13) bt Rajasthan (Jogendra 6) 37-23 (16-7, 8-10, 10-4, 3-2)

For 5th and 6th place

  1. Delhi (Sorav 10) bt Punjab (N. Singh 11) 22-16 (4-4, 5-3, 5-6, 8-3)

For 7th and 8th place

  1. Rajasthan (Abhash 13) bt Uttar Pradesh (Kabeer 5) 30-21 (12-7, 2-3, 5-2, 11-9) 

Semi-finals 

  1. Kerala (Sudarshan 17) bt Chhattisgarh (Mithun Das 23) 63-55 (23-9, 10-21, 6-17, 24-8)
  2. Tamil Nadu (P. Baladhan 23) bt Haryana (Deepak 23) 95-93 (19-21, 25-27, 32-19, 19-26)

The tentative schedule for the matches being held on 14th October 2014, the final day of the tournament, are as follows:

  1. 3rd and 4th place girls match: Karnataka v. Maharashtra – 9.00 a.m.
  2. 3rd and 4th place boys match: Chhattisgarh v. Haryana – 10.30 a.m.
  3. GIRLS’ FINAL: Kerala v. Tamil Nadu – 3.00 p.m.
  4. BOYS’ FINAL: Kerala v. Tamil Nadu – 5.00 p.m.