Ludhiana, October 8: Punjab girls romped home as champions in the 35th Youth National Basketball Championship which concluded at Udaipur in Rajasthan on Sunday.
In the finals, Punjab, led by Ludhiana girl, Sukhmandeep Kaur, faced a stiff resistance from Karnataka before wrapping up the issue with a whisker (67-66).
In the semi final, Punjab girls proved too good for Maharashtra as they outperformed them 82-62 to set up the title clash with title contenders, Karnataka. In the second quarter, however, Punjab bounced back, not only neutralised the lead, surged ahead to earn one point lead at half time (30-29). They increased lead (49-43) at the end of third quarter.
For the winners, the main contributors were Sukhmandeep Kaur (16), Kavya (13), Sabpreet Kaur (9), Sapna (8) and Heena (8) while Sanjana and Mayo Krishna played well for Karnataka accounting for 24 and 11 points, respectively.
Teja Singh Dhaliwal, honorary general secretary, Punjab Basketball Association (PBA), said the girls had performed well. “They have set an example for others to follow. These girls are the future of India basketball,” he said.
Rajdeep Singh Gill, former DGP, Punjab-cum-president of the PBA, Yurinder Singh Hayer, vice-president of the association, congratulated the girls and their coaches Saloni and Narender Pal on this outstanding achievement.
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