Nagpur boys look to break 14-year jinx

NAGPUR: With fitness and stamina holding the key for city cagers, the boys look to break the 14-year jinx while their girls' counterparts, the defending champions, eye second successive crown when the Maharashtra State Inter-District Junior Basketball Championship begins at the Indoor Stadium of Balewadi in Pune from Friday.
The state tourney will witness a largest gathering of district teams.Nagpur boys team, a fine mix of height, speed and experience, is expected to get a perfect finish this year. The last time they brought laurels was way back in 1997 when they outclassed Ahmednagar at the Nagpada courts in Mumbai.
After that, the city team could only manage to enter the final once in 2006 during the Parbhani state meet. Last year being the hosts, city cagers lost in the semifinals.
This year, however, with lanky pivot Parth Vipani leading the team alongside experienced guard Mayur Ambulkar, Vivek Pawar, Jai Kshirsagar and point guard Piyush Zanjal adding to the speed and skill set of the team, Nagpur boys are the underdogs to wrest the crown.
Shiv Chhattrapati award winner Shatrughna Gokhale, who in 1995 coached Nagpur junior boys team to triumph, has been assigned the coaching responsibility which will be an added boost to the chances of a fine finish.
However, defending champions and hosts Pune, eying a hat-trick of state titles, will be a major hurdle for city cagers. Apart from Pune, the Mumbai South West and South East teams can also be the tough opponents.
Being the holders, city girls too will be keen to grab their second crown in succession. For starters, the girls will start their journey against weak opponents as their arch rivals hosts Pune and Thane will be placed in other group. The girls, however, are less in height but with the blend of experience and youthfulness they can do wonders.
National cager Ruchita Shirvastava has been named as captain of the team while national level players Monika Kharabe and Tejaswini Madne make the team a bit stronger. The trio of energetic girls - Anushree Kaloti, Avanti Joshi and Harshada Pande - can retain the state crown for Orange City.
Thane girls are, however, rated as the best team to wrest the title as Pune side will be less in experience with most of their star players busy attending the senior or youth India camp.
Around 36 boys and 26 girls' teams have confirmed their participation in the five-day league-cum-knockout state tourney conducted by the Maharashtra State Basketball Association.
Nagpur teams:
Boys: Parth Vipani (captain), Vivek Pawar, Jai Kshirsagar (all SNG), Mayur Ambulkar, Piyush Zanjal (both HKM), Prateek Nayyar (DKM), Kaustubh Gupta (NBYS), Shubham Motghare, Pratik Pote (both GKM), Saurabh Raipure (NKM), Nikhil Choudhary and Palash Deolkar (both NASA)
Coach: Shatrughna Gokhale
Girls: Ruchita Shrivastava (captain), Tejaswini Madne, Aditi Chatterjee, Sukhada Vadabhat (all NBYS), Radhika Mohta, Anushree Kaloti, Harshada Pande (all DKM), Monika Kharabe, Niranjana Jumle (both NASA), Leena Garud, Aarohi Harode (both SKS) and Avanti Joshi (PLSC).
Coach: Anil Nair