Punjab shocks defending champion Chhattisgarh in boys semi final

Jaipur, Jan 14 (UNI) Reigning champions Chhattisgarh had a mixed luck today as their boys team was stunned by Punjab in the semi finals, while their girls team defeated Kerala and entered the final in the 23rd National Youth Basketball Championship at the SMS Indoor hall here today.

Last year's runners up Punjab got past Chhattisgarh in an exciting encounter by 78-61. Chhattisgarh set up their girl's title clash with Uttar Pradesh as they defeated Kerala in a See-saw battle 70-69, while the latter fought tooth and nail to get past Madhya Pradesh 82-77 in extra time after the two had tied on 66-66 in the scheduled time.

Punjab had a slender lead of only one point (29-28) against Chhattisgarh in the first half but the former performed better in the second half as they increased their margin. Lavdeep was the star performer for Punjab and accounted 17 points followed by Shamshul with 12 and Gulbir Rana with 9. Pratham (25), Kiran (19) and Pawan (11) were the main contributors for Chhattisgarh.

Punjab now await the winner of second semi-final to be played between host Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to meet in the final tomorrow.

In the girls semi-finals, Chhattisgarh had established a strong lead of 41-23 in the first half against Kerala but the latter made combined efforts in the second session and forced their rivals fight for every point. Chhattisgarh was, however, lucky that they could win the tie in a cliff hanger.

Manjit Kaur top-scored with 21 points for Chhattisgarh followed by L Deepa with 16 and Shosan with 13. Lizimol (26), J Roza (15) and Smridi (13) were the main scorers for Kerala.

Captain Renu was the hero of Uttar Pradesh triumph over Madhya Pradesh as she scored 47 points- the highest score in the tournament so far. Uttar Pradesh led 41-26 at the breather but Madhya Pradesh forced them to lock on 66-66 in the scheduled duration of the match.

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