ONGC Dehradun get off to winning start

As the referee's whistle signalled the commencement of the second half of the match,Trideep Rai and Mohit Bhandari-both of ONGC Dehradun- were the first to enter the basketball court at the Sector 46 Sports Complex.

Written by Express News Service

Chandigarh | March 9, 2013 02:12 AM IST

2 min read

As the referee’s whistle signalled the commencement of the second half of the match,Trideep Rai and Mohit Bhandari-both of ONGC Dehradun- were the first to enter the basketball court at the Sector 46 Sports Complex. With the team trailing Indian Army 36-39,both Rai and Bhandari didn’t want to waste any time. And as the match progressed,these two players completely changed the course of the game and despite numerous attempts by the Army team,it was the Dehradun team that had the final laugh. They won 87-73 to begin their campaign on a winning note on the first day of the 1st All India invitational basketball tournament being organised by the Sports Department,Chandigarh Administration under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India.

Both Rai and Bhadari played stellar roles in the team’s victory. They garnered the maximum points for the team- Rai was the top scorer for the team with 31 points while Bhandari was not far behind and accumulated 29 points for the team- as ONGC surprised the Army team by hurting them on the counter-attack .

Earlier,in the evening,the match started on a positive note for the Army team. Under the floodlights,they seemed to have found the perfect rhythm as their players scored points at will. The Dehradun team was somehow lacking the sting till the half-time. Gopal Ram (21 points) looked unstoppable and he was the reason why the army team was on top in the first half.

But Rai and Bhandari played in tandem and their camarederie proved too much for the army team to handle.

Meanwhile,in the second match,Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala made an impressive start to their campaign when they outplayed CRPF Delhi,97-67,in a lop-sided encounter. The Kapurthala team got off to a good start and were sitting pretty with a lead of 30-15 at the end of the first half. They continued to torment Delhi’s defenders with their dazzling skills.

In the third match,PAP Jalandhar humbled Chandigarh 84-56 while IOB Chennai defeated Rest of Punjab easily by 84-59. Pratham Singh scored 20 points for the winning team.

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