Ghatkopar cagers enter final under foul weather

Ghatkopar cagers enter final under foul weather
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

DECEMBER 3: The irony of minis (U-13) basketball played out another disgusting chapter at Ghatkopar YMCA yesterday. The semi-final between the hosts and Mastan YMCA in the XII Bombay YMCA open, sponsored by Kanara Engg, saw 75 fouls, over half of them intentional.

The acrid match also saw Obed Shaikh fracturing his hand after he fell in the third quarter, and the young Mastan boy is reportedly in hospital. Ghatkopar YMCA won 60-55, setting up a final clash with favourites Wellingdon YMCA. Wellingdon drubbed Fatima 110-9 in the other semi-final.

Foul trouble has, for long, been the flip side of the minis game, intended as a nursery for young talent. Coaches, valuing a win more than a broader pool of players, force weak hoopsters to commit fouls in a hurry, enabling stronger players to feature in more than the two stipulated quarters.

The clash of the YMCAs saw eight players -- five from Ghatkopar, three from Mastan -- giving way to superior ball-handlers. The coaches excuse: Their hand is forced, asother coaches do it.

Prayers, seeking a change in rules, have in the past been sent to the International body (FIBA), but relief has not been forthcoming.

In today's matches, Agradneya Vyayamshala defeated Indian Gymkhana 43-22 to enter the junior girls final, while Fatima toyed with Ghatkopar YMCA to enter the semis.

Results

Men: Income-Tax 63 (Clarence Menezes 15 (4x3), Stephen Rodrigues 12, Jasbir Singh 10) bt Andheri YMCA 24 (Kunal Kapoor 10) HT 40-7.

Mini boys (semis): Wellingdon YMCA 110 (Afzal Shaikh 31, Siraj Ansari 22, Zahiruddin Shaikh 16, S Qureshi 9) bt Fatima 9 HT 64-6; Ghatkopar YMCA 60 (Rajaram Gupta 16, Manish Singh 14) bt Mastan YMCA 55 (Karan Tyagi 16, Abdul Razzak 9) HT 20-22.

Junior girls (semis): Agradneya 43 (Gauri Abhyankar 12, Gayatri Manolikar 11) bt Indian Gymkhana 22 (Mugdha Waingankar 8) HT 21-16; (QF): Fatima 52 (Anita Krishnan 22, Ami Momaya 16, Sonali Almeida 9) bt Ghatkopar YMCA 11 (Ashwini Lad 11) HT 37-5.

Supritisurprise

Supriti Paraskar's crucial basket, with two seconds left, saw Villa Theresa B pipping Gopi Birla A in the Girls U-16 MSSA-Colgate inter-school basketball tournament at Azad Maidan today.

Results

Girls U-16: St Louis, Andheri 16 (Fareen Shaikh 8, Ifrah Kazi 7) bt St Paul's Dadar 8 (Poonam Wani 5) HT 3-6; Villa Theresa 7 (Amrita Suri 4) bt Scholar 4 (Toshna Singh 4) HT 2-2; Amulakh Amichand w/o MIG; IES Chandrakant Patkar 32 (Aditi Kulkarni 24) bt St Anne's, Fort B 8 (S Radhika 4) HT 12-2; Villa Theresa B 16 (Supriti Paraskar 6, S Binita 4, Namrata Goyal 4) bt Gopi Birla 15 (Virti Shah 4, Kinjal Shah 4, Rity Bagdi 4) HT 8-6.