Winning start for state girls
Hosts Telangana girls got off to a dream start as they swept aside Bihar girls on the opening day of their Group ‘E’ match of the 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for boys and girls being played at the Indoor Stadium in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. The Championship is being organised by the Hyderabad District Basketball Association under the aegis of the Telangana Basketball Association and the Basketball Federation of India.
Telangana girls were on full attack as they defeated Bihar with a 32-point margin. The scoreline read 4210 in the hosts’ favour. G. Sandhya (9) and Aarya (8) were the top scorers for the home side.
However, it was disappointment for the Andhra Pradesh girls as they went down narrowly against Odisha in their Group ‘F’ match. Andhra lost to Odisha 41-46.
Meanwhile, defending champions Tamil Nadu defeated Rajasthan 76-31.
In the boys section, Karnataka and Punjab registered victories over Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively. Last year’s semifinalists Karnataka trailed at the end of the first and second quarters before a strong showing in the third period saw them outlast their opponents from western India. In the Punjab vs Chhattisgarh boys game, repeated turnovers in the third quarter cost Chhattisgarh dearly as Punjab was able to pull away for the easy double digit win.