Tamil Nadu’s Anantharaj in action against Rajasthan.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU
Tamil Nadu men kick-started their title defence campaign on a strong note, breezing past Rajasthan 101-68 on the opening day of the 75th Senior National basketball championships at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.
The home team bolted out of the gate early in the first quarter, with Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi opening the account with two free throws followed by a jump-shot three-pointer. Pranav Prince then consolidated the early lead with a dunk and a three-pointer as the host closed out the first quarter 27-7.
In the opening phase of the game, the TN defenders were on the money with rebounds while Rajasthan’s shooting was off target. From there, it was about just protecting the lead as TN kept the pace and was 51-26 ahead at half-time.
In the third quarter, TN kept the foot on the pedal and raced to a 66-36 lead with Muin Bek Hafeez drilling in back-to-back three-pointers in the space of a minute. For the winner, Aravind Kumar was the top-scorer with 16 points, followed by R. Hariram with 13.
Important results: Women: Group A: Indian Railways 101 (Pushpa Senthil Kumar 19, Manmeet Kaur 18, Sathya 17, Dharshini 14, Harshita 10) bt Delhi 51 (D. Kritika 11, Garima Gosain 11).
Karnataka 91 (Sruti Aravind 24, Mahek Sharma 21, S. Sobana 16, M. Bhandhavya 14) bt Maharashtra 71 (Siya Deodhar 21).
Group B: Kerala 91 (V.J. Jayalakshmi 15, Susan Florentina 14, Akshya Philip14) bt Gujarat 22.
Tamil Nadu 72 (R. Sruthy 21, Asmitha 14, Antheya Daisy 11, Kogilavani 11) bt Madhya Pradesh 65 (Khushi Pal Singh 23, Manvi Srivasthava 12, Gunvi Agarwal 11, Priya Goswami 11).
Men: Group A: Karnataka 104 (B.K. Anil Kumar 22, Aravind Arumugham 15, Aaron Montero 14, Abhishek Gowda 11, Pratyanshu Tomar 10) bt Gujarat 69 (Mirant Italia 17, Jigrajsinh Gohil 17, Vinay Kaushil 13, Sahaj Kumar Kaushik 10).
Tamil Nadu 101 (Aravind Kumar 16, R. Hariram 13, P. Jeevanatham 12, Pranav Prince 10) bt Rajasthan 68 (Mohammed Idwan 18, Lokendra Singh 15, Akshit Hooda 15, Piyush Meena 13).
Group B: Uttar Pradesh 112 (Harsh Dagar 38, Kushal Singh Digvijay Singh 18, Satayjeet Chaprana 17) bt Punjab 100 (Tejinderbir Singh 23, Gurwinder Singh 20, Shabibjit Singh 20, Swapnil Singh 10).
Published – January 04, 2026 08:44 pm IST
