Published: May 21, 2026 at 5:21 pm
The stage is set for the prestigious 76th Junior National Basketball Championship for boys & girls to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Puducherry from May 22 to 29.
The eight-day mega sporting event is being conducted by the Pondicherry Basketball Association under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).
The championship will witness intense competition among the country’s finest young athletes. A total of 30 teams in the men’s section and 25 teams in the women’s section will vie for the ultimate crown. Tamil Nadu enters the tournament with a target on their back, status as the defending champions in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Groupings: Men’s Division:
Group A: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi
Group B: Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Chandigarh
Group C: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Puducherry
Group D: Assam, Goa, Meghalaya, Telangana
Group E: Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Manipur, Uttarakhand
Group F: Andaman & Nicobar, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, West Bengal
Women’s Division
Group A: Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Chhattisgarh
Group B: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan
Group C: Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh, Goa
Group D: Telangana, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal
Group E: Puducherry, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand
Group F: Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha
