Krish Chowda's 26 lifts Telangana past Haryana 65-58 at Youth Nationals
Telangana's boys opened their campaign at the 41st Youth National Basketball Championship with a tight win, while Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan also made early statements in Pimple Nilakh.
Krish Chowda scored 26 points on Tuesday to carry Telangana to a 65-58 win over Haryana in a Level 1 Pool B game at the CM Chashak 41st Youth National Basketball Championship. The match was played at the Chondhe Patil Sports Complex in Pimple Nilakh, Pune.
The game swung back and forth, and Telangana kept their composure when it counted. Haryana pushed hard. Shivam Shivam top-scored for them with 13 points and Jain Choudhary added 11. It was not enough to stop a seven-point loss.
Elsewhere in the boys' Level 1 round, defending champions Tamil Nadu began their title defence in style, beating Punjab 98-67. Arun Pandi and Kaushik Raj Singh scored 19 each, while Marinder Mohan Singh led Punjab with 22. Kerala beat Delhi 77-63, with Aldrin Anto Alex and Swaroop Girish both on 17. Rajasthan crossed 100 in a 102-85 win over Gujarat. Himanshu and Akshay Nayak scored 22 each and Abhishek Chowdary added 21. Gujarat's Madhavendra Singh Jiathawat still finished with a game-high 33.
The girls' draw had its own fireworks. Kerala routed Chhattisgarh 70-33, and hosts Maharashtra pleased the home crowd with an 84-61 win over Gujarat, led by Vaishnavi Pardheshi's 18. Karnataka beat Telangana 61-51, even though Saanvi Kolishetty scored 23 for the losing side.
The qualifying groups produced several lopsided results. In the girls' section, Haryana beat Rajasthan 69-42, Goa beat Uttarakhand 63-50, Chandigarh edged Himachal Pradesh 80-72, Puducherry beat Bihar 72-54 and Jharkhand beat Odisha 64-37. Among the boys, Karnataka won 97-44 against Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh beat Odisha 75-68, Chhattisgarh beat Manipur 77-36, Bihar beat Goa 59-40 and Jharkhand crushed Andaman & Nicobar 91-19.
Why it matters: this is the country's premier Under-16 basketball event, and a place where state programmes show what their young players can do. The Maharashtra State Basketball Association is running it under the Basketball Federation of India. It features 54 teams, 28 boys' and 26 girls', across 144 matches through November 3. A win in the opening game gives Telangana's boys early momentum in a crowded field.
Source: The Hans India
