Published: October 27, 2026 at 9:53 pm
Telangana boys team got the better of Haryana in a match of fluctuating fortunes with Krish Chawda emerging the top scorer, while Telangana girls went down fighting to Karnataka with Saanvi Kolisetty leading from the front as Telangana led midway through the 3rd quarter before the dominant Karnataka team led by Mahek ended up with a 61-51 victory at the CM Chashak 41st Youth National Basketball Championship in Pune on Tuesday.
The courts at the Chondhe Patil Sports Complex in Pimple Nilakh turned into a battleground of elite hoops on Tuesday morning as the championship officially tipped off.
Defending national champions Tamil Nadu boys laid down an early marker in Pool A, dismantling an aggressive Punjab unit 98-67 on Court 1 behind balanced 19-point performances from Arun Pandi and Kaushik Raj Singh. Punjab’s Marinder Mohan Singh fought valiantly with a game-high 22 points in a losing cause.
In the same pool, Kerala boys registered a convincing 77-63 victory over Delhi, powered by identical 17-point shifts from Aldrin Anto Alex and Swaroop Girish.
In a high-octane Pool B encounter, Rajasthan boys breached the century mark to outlast Gujarat 102-85. Rajasthan’s multipronged offense saw Himanshu (22), Akshay Nayak (22), and Abhishek Chowdary (21) combine effectively to negate a spectacular 33-point lone-warrior effort from Gujarat’s Madhavendra Singh Jiathawat.
Karnataka girls down Telangana
In the girls’ division (Level 1, Pool A), southern powerhouses Kerala made a statement by crushing Chhattisgarh 70-33, led by Subhadra Jayakumar’s 15 points. Meanwhile, local crowds had plenty to cheer about as host state Maharashtra secured a comprehensive 84-61 victory over Gujarat. Vaishnavi Pardheshi spearheaded the local charge with 18 points, offsetting 21-point responses from Gujarat’s duo of Aashi Patel and Rutvibha Jadeja. In Pool B, Karnataka girls held off Telangana 61-51, anchored by Mahek Sharma’s 21 points.
Lower pool developmental matches across Courts 2, 3, and 4 witnessed frantic scoring. In Level 2 boys’ actions, Karnataka asserted dominance over Himachal Pradesh with a 97-44 blowout, while Chandigarh edged out Odisha 75-68 in a thrilling Pool E battle.
In Level 2 girls’ fixtures, Jharkhand put on a defensive masterclass to restrict Andaman & Nicobar to just 19 points in a 91-19 rout.
Organized by the Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA) under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the premier Under-16 national tournament has brought 54 elite state squads, 28 boys’ and 26 girls’ teams, to Pune for an exhaustive 144-match campaign running through November 3.
28 boys’ and 26 girls’ teams to clash for honours in 41st Youth National Basketball
The championship was officially inaugurated in a grand protocol ceremony by Aadhav Arjuna, president of Basketball Federation of India and Tamil Nadu sports minister.
He was accompanied by a distinguished panel of sports administrators, including Union minister of state and Maharashtra Olympic Association president Murlidhar Mohol, MSBA president Sandeep Joshi, and BFI secretary general Kulvinder Singh Gill.
Results: Boys Level 1, Pool A: Tamil Nadu 98 (Arun Pandi 19, Kaushik Raj Singh 19, Renjith K 14, Hyodor Athithyan 12, Servesh Reghu 11) beat Punjab 67 (Marinder Mohan Singh 22); Kerala 77 (Aldrin Anto Alex 17, Swaroop Girish 17, Joel Jose 14, Govind Menon 12, Niranjan SR 11) beat Delhi 63 (Tilak 19, Tarun Yadav 12, Apoorv Siddhartha 12).
Pool B: Rajasthan 102 (Himanshu 22, Akshay Nayak 22, Abhishek Chowdary 21, Bhanae Pratap Singh Rathore 19, Jay Sharma 13) beat Gujarat 85 (Madhavendra Singh Jiathawat 33, Amit Sarya 17, Garvitt Grower 17, Vivien Gamit 12); Telangana 65 (Krish Chowda 26) beat Haryana 58 (Shivam Shivam13, Jain Choudhary 11).
Level 2 (qualifying groups): Pool C: Bihar beat Goa 59-40. Pool D: Karnataka beat Himachal Pradesh 97-44. Pool E: Chandigarh beat Odisha 75-68; Chhattisgarh beat Manipur 77-36. Pool F: Jharkhand beat Andaman & Nicobar 91-19.
Girls, Level 1: Pool A: Kerala 70 (Subhadra Jayakumar 15, Malavika V 10, Amye Anna Johnson 10) beat Chhattisgarh 33 (Antra Rao 9); Maharashtra 84 (Vaishnavi Pardheshi 18, Tanvi Jadhav 11, Saina Bhagat 11, Nyla Inamdar 10) beat Gujarat 61 (Aashi Patel 21, Rutvibha Jadeja 21).
Pool B: Karnataka 61 (Mahek Sharma 21, Aadhya Vijay 12) beat Telangana 51 (Saanvi Kolishetty 23).
Level 2 (qualifying groups): Pool C: Goa beat Uttarakhand 63-50; Haryana beat Rajasthan 69-42. Pool D: Chandigarh beat Himachal Pradesh 80-72. Pool E: Puducherry beat Bihar 72-54. Pool F: Jharkhand beat Odisha 64-37.
