Punjab to face Delhi in final

CHANDIGARH, Nov 17: Mighty Punjab set up the title clash with last year's semifinalists Delhi in basketball competition in the under-17 boys...

CHANDIGARH, Nov 17: Mighty Punjab set up the title clash with last year’s semifinalists Delhi in basketball competition in the under-17 boys group of the 44th National School Games played at the floodlit Sector 7 Sports Complex courts here today. Punjab made short work of Chandigarh 64-25 while Delhi outplayed Madhya Pradesh 63-47.

The Punjab players literally toyed with Chandigarh, who besides lacking in the basic fundamentals of the game were also poor in physical endurance.

The eventual winners’ dominance in the contest was apparent when they had a 20-point lead in the opening 10 minutes of the play. How poorly the Chandigarh cagers were equipped in the game today could be gauged by the fact that they netted only one basket in the last seven minutes of the first half. Punjab led 42-17 at the break.

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In the second session, Punjab players were on the attack and scored on fast break and drive-in. Prabhjeet with 18 points led the Punjab attack. Harsimran Singh and Parminder also contributed 14 and 12 points respectively to the total.

Harminder Singh top-scored with 18 points for Chandigarh.

In the second semifinal, Delhi hung on to the initial lead 18-4, which enabled them to get the better of their opponents Madhya Pradesh, who made a comeback in the later stage of the game. At the half-time the score was in favour of Delhi at 36-25.

Madhya Pradesh, who had seven team fouls in the first session, were again in dire-situation in the second session also, moving cautiously on the court.

The Delhi cagers took advantage of the sticky situation and further increased the margin of victory (63-47). The Chandigarh girls handball (under-17) team also made it into the last four stage of the meet by beating Haryana 17-13. They will face Punjab who defeated Assam 8-5, in the other semifinal.

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Chandigarh beat Madhya Pradesh 20-13 to get a place in the final. In the second semifinal, Gujarat outplayed Delhi 30-18, and will face Chandigarh in the final tomorrow.

Results
Boys
Hockey: Goa bt Assam 6-2; KVS bt Gujarat 1-0; Punjab draw UP 0-0; Pondicherry bt Kerala 1-0; WB draw MP 4-4; Haryana bt Maharashtra 3-2; Delhi bt Rajasthan 4-2.
Girls: Punjab bt MP 6-2; Haryana bt Maharashtra 7-0; Himachal Pradesh bt Delhi 1-0.

Basketball
Boys: MP bt HP 45-36; Panjab bt Assam 54-33; Chandigarh bt Kerala 50-31; Delhi bt Maharashtra 55-41.
Girls: Maharashtra bt Haryana 45-25; Kerala bt Chandigarh 39-8; PM bt Delhi 49-15; Karnataka bt TN 44-24.

Handball
Boys: MP bt Haryana 20-13; Delhi bt UP 24-14; Chandigarh bt J&K 24-14; Gujarat bt Punjab 24-19; Chandigarh bt MP 20-13.
Girls: Haryana nt MP 15-14; Chandigarh bt Kerala 11-2; Punjab bt AP 28-4; Assam bt Maharashtra 20-9.