CHANDIGARH, NOV 10 : Hosts The New Public School, Sector 18 boys as well as girls emerged winners in the Rao Jai Singh (boys) and Shanta H Singh (girls) Memorial Basketball Tournament which concluded at the NPS courts here today.
With hosts students loudly cheering their team, the New Public School boys just managed to claim the Rao Jai Singh with a narrow margin of two points (77-75) in a most thrilling final.
In the girls category, NP School lifted the Shanta H Singh Trophy at the expense of Government Girls Senior Secondary School of Giddarbha by 46-32.
The NPS boys were fired up today against Budha Dal Public School. The NPS trio of Balraj Singh, Sartaj Singh and Parveen paved the way for their team to emerge victorious. Balraj (26) excelled in scoring from under the ring and rebounds. Sartaj (25) stole show, especially with lay-up shots. Parveen contributed 15 points.
Satish who scored six points came out after committing five individual fouls in the second quarter itself. In fact the NPS boys committed 11 fouls in the first half itself. Their coaches had to caution them on this account.
On the other hand the Budha Dal Public School boys took time to settle down. After losing the first quarter by 16-26, they bounced into the game. Trading basket for basket, the Patiala school boys went down fighting by one just one point (20-21) in the second quarter.
The third quarter was also a ding-dong battle before NPS struggled to win in by 20-17. At the end of third quarter, NPS led by 67-53. The fourth quarter belonged to Budha Dal Public School which they won by 22-12.
With only one minute and 43 seconds left, the score stood at 74-73 in favour of NPS. A basket by Balraj increased the NPS margin (76-73). At the other end Sehjpal converted a basket for Budha Dal Public School and the score was 76-75. With just few seconds left, Gurjot converted a free throw and NPS emerged hard-fought victors by 77-75.
Despite being closely policed by the NPS players, prolific scorer Antar topscored with 36 points. He was given a good support by Sahil (25).
Though it was a team effort which helped NPS to clinch girls crown, Varsha held the spotlight with 20 points. She was well supported by Amandeep (10) and Smiti (10). Neha converted two three-pointer for her six points. For Govt Girls SSS, Giddarbha Jyoti (14) and Shallu (12, including three three-pointer shots).
Punjab Additional Director General of Police Chander Sekhar was the chief guest and distributed the prizes. Chander Sekhar, who is also the president of the Chandigarh Hockey Association was received by Principal RD Singh.
Results (finals):
Boys: New Public School-18 (Balraj 26, Sartaj 25, Parveen 15, Gurjot 4, Satish 6) bt Budha Dal Public School, Patiala (Sahil 25, Antar 36, Gurpreet 4, Taranjit 4, Sehajdeep 2) by 77-75 (quarter-wise 26-16, 21-20, 20-17, 10-22).
Girls: New Public School-18 (Varsha 20, Smiti 10, Amandeep 10, Neha 6) bt Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Giddarbha (Jyoti 14, Shallu 12, Prabhjot 2, Amandeep 2, Jalwant 2) by 46-32 (quarter-wise scores: 13-3, 10-15, 16-10, 7-4).
=== Balbir Singh, 09417153533==