Delhi men clinch a thriller

SURAT: One of the most improved teamsof recent years, Gujarat bowed out of the men���s competition of the SeniorNational basketball championships at the Pandit Deendayal Indoor Stadium here onSaturday after suffering a heartbreaking defeat against Delhi.Toppers of pool D, Gujarat took on the group E champs for a berth inthe quarterfinals, and looked good when they led 34-32 at the break, and thentook a seven-point advantage at the fourth quarter. But a few mis-passes costthe hosts dearly and they eventually lost the grim battle71-78.Sunil Kumar (22) top-scored for Delhi in the seesaw encounterwhile Gujarat captain Rikhin Pethani fetched 24 points for his side. DishantShah and Swapnil Thakur (17 each) were the other good Gujarat performers.Delhi���s women continued their great show in Group B by routing Kerala105-54 for their third victory in the pool. The win help them seal aquarterfinals slot. International Shiba Maggon (24), Harjeet Kaur (20),Prashanti Singh and Akansha kept up the scoring in the uneven contest. Karnatakashot down Chhatisgarh 75-63 in their pool match, but the latter made thequarterfinal grade on the basis of earlier group victories. IndianRailways women made Group A their personal domain by trouncing all their leaguerivals and staying on track for another title triumph. They have beaten Punjab,Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh comprehensively and will now relax till the lasteight stage matches are played on January 5. By virtue of their winsover Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu joined Railways in the knockout,along with Punjab who also made it thanks to their win over AndhraPradesh.In the rather complex qualifying schedule, both AP andKerala are still in the running for the knockout berth. The two teams will nowtake on the top two finishers from the Level 2 groups in a���pre-quarterfinals league��� that will decide the two other temas whowill join the top six in the quarterfinals. Incidentally, in what isun ique to this championships, Sunday will be the���losers���tournament��� day where the best losing teams will play each other and willbe awarded trophies.