Amrit Pal Singh stood tall as defending champion ONGC (Dehradun) dispatched Punjab State with relative ease in the men’s semifinals of the Golden Jubilee all-India basketball tournament for the PSG Trophy here on Tuesday.
Indian Army springs a surpriseMeanwhile, Indian Army (New Delhi) sprung a surprise defeating strong contender Indian Overseas Bank (Chennai) 67-56 in the second semifinal.
Earlier, it was an easy road all the way for the champion side ONGC. Punjab lacked the depth in defence but was quite sure with its attack. ONGC, on the other hand, enjoyed the best of both. The first half belonged to Amrit. The senior India star played with grace and gumption. He cut loose from the start to dunk baskets with ease and the large crowd went into raptures. The Punjab men had no answer to his brilliant shooting ability.
Yadwinder Singh and Mohit Bhandari played their role to perfection as well. The second half saw the Punjab men in full flow. Kushmeet Singh and Loveneet Singh showed great understanding in the middle. The duo, after scanning the water-tight defence the opponent, broke free to score points at will.
It was during this period that ONGC tested its bench as well. But ONGC shot and defended well to seal its place in the final.
The results (semifinals): Men (PSG Trophy): ONGC (Dehradun) 85 (Amrit Pal Singh 25, Yadwinder Singh 14, Mohit Bhandari 12) bt Punjab State 67 (Gurkirpal Singh 14, Harminder Singh 10, Amritpal Singh 9); Indian Army (New Delhi) 67 bt IOB (Chennai) 56.
Women (CRI Trophy): Southern Railway 73 (Raja Priyadarshini 19, M. Adhirai 14, Neena Harendreen 14) bt Eastern Railway (Kolkata) 62 (Madhu Kumari 19, Sukurmani Oraon 13, Sitamani Tudu 12); Western Railway 66 (S. Manish Dange 26, Shruthi Radhakrishnan 14) bt SCR (Secunderabad) 54 (Gayathri 19, Anusha Anto 17, Aishwarya Natraj 14).
