 Chennai: Punjab men dashed Tamil Nadu's hopes of a sixth title with a 70-62 win in the final, while Indian Railways women's team were too good for Chhattisgarh, winning 94-70, in the 62nd senior National basketball championships on Saturday.
Perhaps, the weight of expectations told on Tamil Nadu who just could not come up with anything extra to trouble the sturdy Punjab players.
Right through, the teams went neck and neck but Punjab stretched the difference with strong performances in the first (24-15) and third (19-13) quarters while Tamil Nadu could not really dictate terms in the two quarters that they won, the second (17-13) and fourth (14-17) as the deficit proved too much to make up.
Leading the Punjab's charge were Amritpal Singh (21) Talwinder Singh (17) and Jagdeep Singh (17) while Rikin Pethani (24) played the lone hand for the Tamil Nadu.
The women's final turned out to be rather one-sided with Railways, led by Geethu Anna Jose (31) were just too good for Chhattisgarh who did well to keep pace with their more experienced rivals, going into the break level on 36.
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