Karnataka men and Chhattisgarh women win Junior National Basketball titles

Junior National Basketball Championship, Karnataka basketball, Chhattisgarh basketball, Puducherry basketball tournament, Divya Rangari, Adithya Vittal Shenoy, Kerala basketball, Haryana basketball, Indian basketball, national basketball championship

Hyderabad: Karnataka men and Chhattisgarh women were crowned champions at the Junior National Basketball Championship in Puducherry.

In the men’s final, Karnataka defeated Haryana 83-75, while Chhattisgarh scored a 55-51 win over Kerala.

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In the women’s final, Chhattisgarh set a punishing pace right from the opening whistle, orchestrating a dominant 19-11 run in the first quarter that left Kerala scrambling defensively. Refusing to let the game slip away, Kerala responded with a fiery second-quarter counter-attack. Exploiting gaps in the transition defence, Kerala outscored the favourites 17-10 to dramatically cut the deficit to just one point at the halftime buzzer.

The second half turned into a tactical chess match. Kerala continued their aggressive push in the third quarter, edging ahead 11-10 to keep the pressure mounting. However, Chhattisgarh’s championship composure shone through in the final period. Re-establishing their defensive lockdown and executing precise fast breaks, Chhattisgarh broke away with a decisive 16-12 fourth-quarter run to put the game out of reach and secure the national crown.

For the champions, Divya Rangari was the top scorer with 22 points, including three three-pointers. Captain Anjali Kodapae anchored the offensive plays with 14 points under the guidance of head coach Rajeswara Rao. Kerala’s valiant fightback was spearheaded by Liya Maria and Subadra Jaykumar, who contributed 12 points each, while T Vaigha scored 11 points.

The winners took home a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, the runners-up received Rs 2 lakh, and the second runners-up walked away with Rs 1 lakh. On the individual front, the Championship Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards went to Divya Rangari, Chhattisgarh (women), and Adithya Vittal Shenoy, Karnataka (men). They will receive Rs 50,000 each, while the tournament’s best three-point shooter awards went to Arya (Maharashtra) in the women’s section and Chandigarh in the men’s section. They received Rs 25,000 each.

The results:

Men’s final: Karnataka 83 (Samath Kumar 19, Anshul Sai 19, Adithya Vittal Shenoy 18, Vijeendra Vedanthi 14, Harshan Yatish 11) bt Haryana 75 (Rahul 27, Sachin 16, Mayank Kanchi 14, Ajay 13).

3rd place: Rajasthan bt Chandigarh 85-78.

Women’s final: Chhattisgarh 55 (Divya Rangari 22, Anjali Kodapae 14) bt Kerala 51 (Liya Maria 12, Subadra Jaykumar 12, T Vaigha 11).

3rd place: Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 58-54.