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U-13 district championship: Aniruddha Club lift maiden title
Team beats Sanjay Sawant Basketball Academy 66-34 in the 9th Late Rajabhau Chitale Memorial final
Aniruddha Basketball Club (ABC) - A team’s remarkable fairytale had the most fitting end to it as they managed to win the 9th Late Rajabhau Chitale Memorial under 13 district championship by beating Sanjay Sawant Basketball Academy (SSBA) by a 66-34 scoreline in the final.
Manit Agarwal was the star performer for Aniruddha Basketball Club A-team scoring one point fewer than the whole of SSBA combined.
Quite surprisingly, it was Sanjay Sawant Basketball Academy who started on the front foot and had their noses up early on. In fact, towards the end of the first quarter, they held an 18-06 lead over ABC and it looked like the tie was going to be a one-way traffic up until the very end. However, that wasn’t to be.
Due to the tournament’s rules of playing 10 players for at least one complete quarter, both sides changed their starting five in the second quarter. The rule played the game right into the hands of Aniruddha Basketball Club as they had phenomenal strength in depth while their opponents’ lack of the same made it extremely difficult for them to score points. In fact, they could add only six more to their total, while Aniruddha Basketball Club enjoyed a 17 point quarter to make it a one-point game going into the second half.
Aniruddha managed to continue their momentum in the third and fourth quarters and once they had their noses up, there was absolutely no stopping them.
They seemed imperious on the offensive and defensive fronts and SSBA appeared to have no answers for them. The raw desire in the ABC boys was there for everyone to see as they battled for every offensive rebound as if their life depended on it.
In defence, they maintained a high press and forced their opponents to make a number of turnovers. Chirag Birajdar was one player that stood out for ABC as he not only looked after his defensive responsibilities but provided a number of assists to Agarwal – the team’s top scorer
Anirudh Pole, coach ABC A, said, “We’ve been working behind the team for over a year and I’m so happy that we finally have something to show for it. The credit goes to the players and all my staff members for putting up such a spirited performance. We knew that they don’t have a good second playing five and it was our strategy to take it in easy in the first before going all out in the remaining three quarters.”
Omprakash Jakhar, coach SSBA, said, “The one thing that cost us today was the lack of depth and we were forced to play all our players because of the rules. I think when our lead was reduced to just point, that’s when the opponent’s got the belief that we were there for the taking. Despite our performances, I think we’ve been fantastic throughout the tournament and we can take a lot back home as it was the first time we’ve played in a final.”
Fouls prove costly as St Mary’s cede basketball championship to Dastur
In a nail-biting encounter in the girls’s final of the under-13 district championship at the Deccan Gymkhana basketball courts, the girls from Dastur High School managed to take advantage of the tactical fallacies by St Mary’s to win the encounter 32-26 to lift the trophy on Friday.
With both the favourites squaring off, an open and end-to-end game was in the offing and two teams did not fail to deliver. At crucial stages in the contest, both Mary’s and Dastur held sizeable leads and even at the end of three quarters, it was impossible to pick a winner.
However, the number of fouls made by the St Mary’s players in the earlier stages of the match was something that was likely to come and bite them in the back later on. In the fourth, looking to take advantage of Dastur’s weak free throwing ability, they made a number of fouls, giving away a lot of free throws in the bargain.
The tactic saw them regain ball possession, but cost them dearly as three of their main starters - Kaya Pungliya, Rashi Pettie, Anisha Wagmale - ended up being fouled out. Dastur knew this was bound to take place as they saved their attacking options for the dying stages of the contest. The decision by Lalit Nahata proved to be a masterstroke and saw him win the tactical battle against his opposite number Arun Chopade.
Lalit Nahata, coach Dastur, said, “I think it was a very tough game, the toughest we’ve had in this tournament and I’m glad that we ended up on the winning side. Their strategy to foul our players and force them to take free throws ended up not working as it also saw their key players being fouled out. My girls held their nerves in the right moments and it’s what helped us win the match.”
Arun Chopade, coach St Mary’s, said, “Three of our players being fouled put us at a massive disadvantage but we still gave it our all. Yes, I think the chances we had to score vital points at the end were squandered and had we taken those extremely easy opportunities to score, things would have been a lot different. However, I’m still proud of my team’s performance.”
