T.N., Punjab and Bihar start as favourites

By Avinash Nair

BANGALORE, JAN. 4. Teams are trickling in and the enthusiasm is building up but on the eve of the 51st Senior National basketball championship the men from Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Bihar stand tall. In the distaff section it is hard to look beyond the all conquering Railways although Tamil Nadu and Kerala promise a lot.

The eight-day extravaganza at the Sree Kanteerava stadium will surely liven up the spirits of basketball fans in Bangalore which has not hosted a senior National event since 1993. Karnataka is hosting a National event for seniors for the third time, the first being way back in 1976.

Holder Tamil Nadu's grip on the Todd Memorial Trophy for men depends on how well coach A.D. Senthureshwaran extracts the best out of his talented outfit. But for any major bungles it should ensure a tilt at the title again.

Punjab is here with its top guns in good form. The Parminder's and Gagnesh Kumar's can turn the tide on their own on any given day and with a handful of youngsters also included it should be a team to watch out for. After a two-year reign, Punjab was pipped at the post for the next two years by Tamil Nadu in '96 (Calcutta) and Bihar in '97 (Ludhiana). It regained taking the honours again in '98 at Jaipur.

Bihar, five-time finalist in the last six Nationals, look as formidable as ever. But in the absence of India's first professional basketballer in Shahid Qureshi (away in U.S. for a a knee surgery), Md. Ishaluddin (opting to switch allegiance), playmaker Cyril Miranda and Nishanth Kumar Bihar is poorer by experience.

However, with the induction of junior internationals - Mohit Bhandari, Desaraj, Wasim Khan and Md. Riazuddin along with the highly talented Jaldeep Dhaliwal and N.S. Rawat the team cannot be discounted.

Karnataka could find Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan a difficult proposition. Madhya Pradesh and Andhra are the other two teams in its group. But with the home crowd backing Karnataka should be able to pull off a few surprises.

``The absence of both B.S. Goutham (former India captain) and junior international A. Rajkumar, is sure to be felt. But we have worked out on strategies to be employed against each team,'' claimed the think-tank of coach P. Ramar and assistant coach R. Rajan. The Murli Mohan-led team has the talent and wherewithal to upset the best in business, with a good sprinkling of tall players. Sachindra and Srinivas Gowda when they find their rhythm will be hard to contain.

On the distaff side, Railways has swept everything. Only Kerala and Tamil Nadu besides Punjab can even pose a semblance of a challenge. Delhi, last year's finalist, is an unknown quantity, its arrival being delayed by over 12 hours due to railway snags.

Tamil Nadu's Vidya Sridharan, the bean-pole in the team sounded quite optimistic. ``Wait and watch. We will cause a few sensational upsets,'' said the team members, who have a youth player in Anitha P. who was much talked about during the recently concluded Youth Nationals in Vashi (New Mumbai).

Karnataka, despite the hype of a few senior players rejoining, is a mediocre side which will have to work hard to get through to the super league, having been relegated to the lower half in the past two years.

The championship will be the first Nationals to be played under the new rules - like the 24 second rule (instead of the 30 second rule), four quarters of 10 minutes each and the changed time-outs and team foul changes - though the format of two tier league-cum- knockout needs to be reworked.

Ten teams in two groups according to the last Nationals position will be joined by two teams from the lower group of 13 teams, divided into three groups. Likewise the eight team women's group of two will be joined by the best two teams from the lower group (consisting of 12 teams).

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