CHANDIGARH, JUNE 14 :Defending champions Punjab boys have been clubbed with Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir in Pool A of the 35th Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship to be held at Kapurthala from June 15 to 21, according to Punjab Basketball Association general secretary Teja Singh Dhariwal. The hosts will commence their campaign with an opening match against Himachal Pradesh.
Punjab girls are in Pool E along with Madhya Pradesh and Puddicherry. Haryana, Chandigarh and Karnataka girls are in Pool C.
Meanwhile, all arrangements have been completed to smoothly conduct the Sub-Junior National Basketball. Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Industrial and Commerce, Government. of Punjab Manoranjan Kalia will inaugurate the Nationals tomorrow at 6.00p.m. while Deputy Commissioner J.M. Balamurugam will be the guest of honour.
According to Punjab Basketball Association RS Gill 23 three boys and 20 girls teams have already arrived and 16 boys and 13 girls teams have undergone medical examinations to verify age of the players. A medical team has been constituted for this purpose.
RS Gill, who is also president of the Basketball Federation of India, said four flood-lit basketball courts would be be used to conduct 94 matches of the championship, which will be played on league-cum-knock out system.
Tomorrow morning eight matches will be played. In all 19 matches will be played on the inaugural day.
The following are the pools:
Pools: Boys: Pool A:Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. Pool B: Chattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand. Pool C: Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. Pool D: Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh, Kerala, Puddicherry. Pool E: Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharasthra. Pool F: West Bengal, Manipur and Mizoram.
Girls: Pool A: Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh.Pool B: Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi. Pool C: Haryana, Chandigarh, Karnataka. Pool D: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, West Bengal. Pool E: Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Puddicherry, Uttrakhand.Pool F: Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, Loveneet Singh and Pawandeep Kaur of Ludhiana Basketball Academy will lead the Punjab basketball sub-junior boys and girls teams, respectively in the Sub-Junior Nationals.
Other members of the teams are: Boys: Loveneet Singh, Kushneet Singh, Manipal Singh, Satnam Singh, Sameer Sen (all Ludhiana Basketball Academy), Arjun Parshad (Ludhiana Distt.),Inderjit Singh (Manasa ), Navjot (Ferpzepur), Gagandeep(Ferozepur),Chetan (Kapurthala ), Sehjdeep Singh (Patiala). Coach: Gurinder Singh. Assistant coach: Jagroop Singh. Manager: Ajay Chopra.
Girls: Pawandeep Kaur (LBA), Sukhnoor, Parminder, Sarabjt,Jaspreet, Manpreet (LBA), Harpreet (Gurdaspur),Amandeep ( Sangrur), Sukhdeep ( Sangrur),Savita (Kapurthala), Rakhi (Kapurthala),Kamaljit(Kapurthala). Coach:Kanwarjit Singh. Assistant Coach: Ashwani Kumar. Manager: PS Nijjer.