Maharashtra girls take on Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh boys meet Rajasthan in finals

Dominant Maharashtra girls will take on Tamil Nadu in the final, while Uttar Pradesh boys will meet Rajasthan in the summit clash of the 51st Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship (boys & girls) on Sunday.

In an action-packed day of semifinal clashes at the Maris Stella College Indoor Stadium in Vijayawada on Saturday, Maharashtra booked their ticket to the championship round by defeating Karnataka 71-60. Maharashtra established an early advantage, leading 36-25 at the interval, and held off a spirited Karnataka side to secure the win. Netra Damke spearheaded the Maharashtra attack with 17 points, supported by Anika Naik’s 10 points.

Karnataka cruise, Haryana edge Delhi & Uttar Pradesh boys & girls book their semis berths

For Karnataka, Aarushi Ananth put up a valiant game-high 22 points, while Kushi Kushi chipped in with 10. Maharashtra will now face Tamil Nadu in the final, who defeated Uttar Pradesh (73-41). The Tamil Nadu girls’ onslaught was led by Leo Jafflin who scored 17 points. She was ably supported by V Anshika who got 11 and Dhanya M who scored 10 points. For Uttar Pradesh, Tejaswi Khana got 10 points.

On the boys’ side, defending champions Uttar Pradesh moved one step closer to retaining their crown by turning back Maharashtra 63-55. Uttar Pradesh held a slim 31-26 lead at halftime before pulling away in the second half. Sahil Kumar led the winners with 15 points, while Vanish Tomar contributed 12. Maharashtra’s resistance was led by Mayank Sharma, who netted a team-high 16 points.

Uttar Pradesh will take on Rajasthan who thrashed Haryana 82-47 in the semifinal.

Telangana boys edge Tamil Nadu, AP girls fall short

The morning session kicked off with nail-biting action in the loser’s knock-out finals. In the boys’ section, Telangana edged past Tamil Nadu by a solitary point in a dramatic 66-65 finish. Meanwhile, the girls’ knockout final saw host team Andhra Pradesh put up a brave fight but ultimately fall short against Haryana, losing 50-54.

Madhya Pradesh enjoyed a stellar day in the 5th-to-8th classification brackets. The Madhya Pradesh boys delivered a commanding 78-49 victory over Karnataka, while their girls’ squad comfortably outclassed West Bengal 43-19.

In other placement matches for the 4th and 5th positions, the Chhattisgarh boys defeated Delhi 64-49, and the Kerala girls cruised to a 61-44 win over Delhi. Over on Court 3, the Odisha girls dominated Punjab 69-31 to secure 9th place, while the Punjab boys narrowly beat Kerala 47-43.

The thrilling semifinal action followed a series of intense late-night quarterfinal matches played on Friday night. In the boys’ quarterfinals, Maharashtra defeated Madhya Pradesh 78-72, powered by Mayank Sharma’s 27 points and Shubham Sharma’s 11 points, countering efforts from MP’s top scorers Anil Kanchi (16) and Pranjal Sharma (15).

In another boys’ quarterfinal, Rajasthan beat Chhattisgarh 69-53 behind Harshwardhan Singh’s 23 points and Rajat Vyas’s 12 points, while Prince Kumar (14) and Jaskaran Singh (11) top-scored for Chhattisgarh.

In the girls’ quarterfinals, Uttar Pradesh bested Madhya Pradesh 68-57, led by Tejasvi Karhana’s 21 points and Angel Malik’s 15 points, while Monika Dhakad (13) and Eram Khan (11) fought hard for MP. Meanwhile, Maharashtra cruised past Delhi with an 84-43 victory, courtesy of Netra Damke’s 21 points and Reva Narkar’s 12 points. Nyra Khosla (11) and Piyu Sharma (10) reached double digits for Delhi.

Results (semfinals): Girls: Maharashtra 71 (Netra Damke 17, Anika Naik 10) beat Karnataka 60 (Aarushi Ananth 22, Kushi Kushi 10); Tamil Nadu 73 (Leo Jafflin 17, V Anshika 11, Dhanya M 10) beat Uttar Pradesh 41 (Tejaswi Khana 10).

Boys: Uttar Pradesh 63 (Sahil Kumar 15, Vanish Tomar 12) beat Maharashtra 55 (Mayank Sharma 16); Rajasthan 82 beat Haryana 47.

Quarterfinals (boys): Maharashtra 78 (Mayank Sharma 27, Shubham Sharma 11) beat Madhya Pradesh 72 (Anil Kanchi 16, Pranjal Sharma 15); Rajasthan 69 (Harshwardhan Singh 23, Rajat Vyas 12) beat Chhattisgarh 53 (Prince Kumar 14, Jaskaran Singh 11).

Girls: Uttar Pradesh 68 (Tejasvi Karhana 21, Angel Malik 15) beat Madhya Pradesh 57 (Monika Dhakad 13, Eram Khan 11); Maharashtra 84 (Netra Damke 21, Reva Narkar 12) beat Delhi 43 (Nyra Khosla 11, Piyu Sharma 10).