National Basketball Championship 2023: Tamil Nadu men's and Railway women's emerge victorious in finals
The nail-biting final clashes of men's and women's teams of the 73rd National Basketball Championship 2023 took place at Guru Nanak Dev Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
With the courtesy of palpable efforts, Tamil Nadu became the tournament's champions in the men's category. They defeated Railways with a final scoreline of 72-67. Talented player Baladhaneswar kept everyone on the edge of their seats and played a pivotal role in Tamil Nadu's success.
Baladhaneswar was the top-scorer with 17 points and also had the support of teammates Pranav Prince (11), Jeevanathan (11), and Aravind Kumar (10). The trio played a crucial role in Tamil Nadu's success against the Railways. Baladhaneswar was recognized as the 'Most Valuable Player' in the men's category.
As far as the women's final is concerned, Railway women were able to retain their National Basketball Championship title successfully. The team gave a tough time to Kerala women with a notable and dominant 80-50 victory. Poonam Chaturvedi was the main force behind the team's success. She topped the points charts with an impressive tally of 23. Pushpa Senthilkumar, Gulabsha Ali, and Sruthi Aravind formed a cohesion with scores of 15, 11, and 10 respectively.
It is pertinent to mention that Poonam was named the 'Most Valuable Player' of the match in the women's category for her efforts.
Winners and MVPs awarded for their performance at National Basketball Championship 2023
Both the MVPs of men's and women's categories were awarded a car each. Apart from the individual awards, the winning teams for their stellar show also got INR 5,00,000 each. The runner-ups of the men's and women's domains, Railways and Kerala were presented 3,00,000 for their journey throughout the National Basketball Championship 2023.
Notably, the third-place match in the women's category took place between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with the latter emerging victorious. Whereas, in the competition between Punjab and Delhi men's teams, Punjab were the force to reckon with. The winners of the third-place games won INR 2,00,000 each.