Bengaluru, 19th October 2016: The Vijaya Bank organised 3rd Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament for Men 2016has tipped off at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in the city. The tournament is being conducted under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India and the Karnataka State Basketball Association.
Vijaya Bank’s General Managers Mr AC Swain, Mr Sidheswar Patra and Deputy General Manager Mr A Sridhara Murthy were present as special guests closely watching the first game between hosts Vijaya Bank and Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
Vijaya Bank’s India international forward Arvind Arumugam was presented a cash award from Mr Swain, prior to the tip off of the first game.
Vijaya Bank bt Integral Coach Factory, Chennai 78-52
Hosts Vijaya Bank got off to a dream start in the tournament beating Integral Coach Factory, Chennai 78-52.
The first quarter began deceptively close, with the teams locked at 20-20. Vijaya Bank’s Big Three of point guard Rajesh Uppar, centre Arvind Arumugam and shooting guard Anil Kumar showed glimpses of their class in various ways. Rajesh was able to slash into the paint and dish it to his teammate Arvind, while Anil impressed with his scoring in transition. Young forward S Karthickeyan was able to use his athleticism to rise over his opponents for multiple tough left hand layups. For ICF, the undersized bigs passed excellently inside to make up for their lack of size. ICF also showed great hustle to score on second chance opportunities.
But like a matchstick that flares brightly when lit, before fizzling out, ICF got overwhelmed in the second quarter, as Vijaya Bank’s reserve Big Men Sanjay Raj (former Indian men’s team captain) and Roby Thomas kept up the pressure on the glass. Vijaya Bank had outscored ICF 21-8, to take a 41-28 lead at halftime.
In the second half, both teams seemed to have accepted the result, as they went through the motions. Arvind had topscored for Vijaya Bank with 27 points while shooting guard Mukunth had 14 for ICF.
Vijaya Bank will next face Indian Bank tomorrow for a spot in the semifinals, while ICF will face Indian Bank day after in a bid to stay alive in the competition.
Vijaya Bank (Arvind Arumugam 27, S Karthickeyan 10, Anil Kumar 9) bt ICF, Chennai (Mukunth 14, Seenivasan 12) 78-52 [20-20, 21-8, 22-15, 15-9]
Customs and Central Excise, Kochi bt SDAT, Chennai 65-63
In an epic battle between two contrasting teams, the experienced Customs and Central Excise, Kochi held on to beat Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), Chennai by two points.
The young SDAT side exploded in the first half and at one point led 22-6, before the Customs veterans made their inevitable comeback. Guard Manoj was money from deep, hitting three straight three pointers in the second quarter to bring Kochi with 5 points, 22-27, of the Chennai lads. However, at halftime the score still read 36-27 in favour of SDAT.
The third period saw more dominance by Customs, as they outscored SDAT 23-12 to wrest a slender 50-48 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
For SDAT, small forward Justin was spectacular with his supreme strength and athleticism. Led by Justin’s 20 points, SDAT rallied in the fourth to match Customs shot for shot. However, former international centre Eudrick Pereira and current international Basil Philip came good in the clutch. Pereira in particular had multiple blocks to deny SDAT any easy points as his side pulled off the tricky 65-63 opening win.
Customs will next face Kerala State Electricity Board tomorrow at 4:30 pm, while later the same day SDAT will take on Karnataka President’s 11 at 7:30 pm.
Customs and Central Excise, Kochi (Manoj 18, Basil 17) bt Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), Chennai (Justin 20, Karthik 14) 65-63 [6-16, 21-20, 23-12, 15-15]
