Tamil Nadu men begin with a bang in Basketball Nationals

Akilan, who was earlier named the captain of the side, failed to make it to the starting line-up alongside Rikin. 

The home team began with Jeeva, Aravind, Prasanna Venkatesh, Justin and Raghuram. Raghuram was handed the role of captaincy in Akilan’s absence. Tamil Nadu raced to an early lead of nine points in the first quarter, with the visitor trying to claw its way back into the contest. The teams were locked up at 27-19, with Tamil Nadu in ascendancy by eight points.  

It completely dominated the second quarter, allowing Haryana to capture only six points. The Milan Opacic-side put the game to bed by clinching 14 successive points and blocked out any potential chance for a comeback from its opponents. 

It led by a mammoth 40 points at half-time. The trend continued in the third and fourth quarters as Tamil Nadu controlled the game and increased the points difference with every passing minute. It was consistent throughout the course of 40 minutes as it picked up at least a minimum of 20 points in each quarter.  

Tamil Nadu will look to make it two wins on the trot as it squares off against Gujarat on Thursday. The state’s women’s team will host Chhattisgarh in a Group A clash here at 5 pm. 

Men: Tamil Nadu beat Haryana 113-58; Punjab beat Gujarat 76-65; Uttrakhand beat Odisha 85-62; Andhra Pradesh beat Jammu & Kashmir 76-75; Chhattisgarh beat  Goa 49-32; Uttar Pradesh  beat West Bengal 88-76; Telangana beat Puducherry 54-22 

Women: Rajasthan beat Telangana 89-61; Indian Railways beat Delhi 89-39