Battle on for quarters

SURAT: While the women's quarterfinalists has been spotted, some of the men's teams were still fighting it out till late Sunday night to decide who will make it to the knockout at the 59th Karp-Jyoti Senior National Basketball Championships.
Railways, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh women have already entered the women's last eight.
Services, Railways, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttarkhand and Uttar Pradesh men have made the last eight. Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka will battle it out for the remaining spots in the men's section.
In the tournament's unique format, four men's and women's teams who finished second and third in the Level 2 groups are playing a 'losers championship,' the quarterfinals of which commenced on Sunday.
Maharashtra's men defeated Chandigarh 88-63, thanks to good scoring from Sanjay Solanke (22) and Arjun Mehta (20). MP trounced Haryana 80-37, Orissa downed Jammu and Kashmir 93-60 and Himachal Predaesh beat West Bengal 73-67 in other men's losers' matches.
In the corresponding women's tournament, Chandigarh (67) beat Jharkhand (39), Rajasthan defeated Uttarkhand 69-51, Orissa ousted J & K 66-40 and Haryana pipped Pondicherry 59-53.
These teams will play the semifinals and finals over the next two days. Coupled with the main fixtures, the tournament, as one official put it "will turn into a round-the-clock affair."