Big upset as UP beat Punjab

Besides Punjab were also coming into this year’s tournament with a frontline bolstered by 15-year-old prodigy Satnam Singh Bhamara,who is already seven feet and two inches tall and has been training with the IMG Academy in USA on scholarship the past year. Bhamara has also been a part of the Indian Senior National team camp at IG Stadium. But Bhamara and his talented Punjab team mates were in for a surprise against a plucky Uttar Pradesh side on Wednesday.

UP got off to a firing start behind aggressive play by Abhishek Singh who would finished with 31 points. After trailing by nine points at halftime,Punjab made a furious comeback in the second half. They shot 21 points to 12 in the third quarter as UP looked wobbly. But despite having the game tied at the end of the third quarter,UP took control in the fourth again to extend their lead and notch a victory by a margin of 14 points.

“We probably played our best game yet while Punjab had their worst game,”said a relieved yet understandably elated UP coach Bhupender Singh Singh.

Abhishek Singh,who top scored for his side,believed that it was better teamwork and not just depending on the presence of stars as the Punjab side did that gave his side victory. “In our last game against Kerala,we were trying to be too stylish,and we played selfishly. Against Punjab we kept the ball moving and constantly made passes to each other,” he said. The UP lad also said his side had come up with a game plan to deny Satnam the chance to impose himself in the game.

“We tried our best to frustrate Satnam by keeping the ball away from him. When he tried to block,we would pass it to another player who would then shoot. This way we forced him into making the fouls,” he added.

Indeed Satnam had a poor first half missed the second and then clearly frustrated fouled out and returned to the bench in the third quarter. He managed 12 points in all. National coach Kenny Natt who was watching from the stands said that while there were positives in the game for Satnam,there were weaknesses revealed that he had to work on.

The UP squad also slowed down the pace of the game. “We went into the game with the idea that we would play at least 20 seconds off the shotclock. We didn’t want to give them a quick steal that they could break with,” explains Bhupendra Singh.

The Punjab side blamed the defeat on what was perhaps their biggest strength going into the match- their national camp players. “We have been in the national camp for the past month. We had no way of coordinating with the other players in the squad. We would make passes to each other in the way we are used to but would find the other side’s players,” said Loveneet who was training at the youth camp also at the IG stadium. “We will only get better as the tournament goes on,” he added.

Other results:

Boys: UP 87 (Abhishek Singh 31) bt Punjab 67 (Satnam Singh 12); Tamil Nadu 89 (Kasiranjan M. 26) bt Andhra Pradesh 49 (Vaddadi Nagur Babu 12); Chandigarh 82 (Navjhot Singh 21) bt Tripura 35 (Subraur Saha 14) Girls: Chhattisgarh 82 (Anjana Daisy Ekka 25) bt Rajasthan 55 (Kamlesh Jat 28); Maharashtra 58 (Krittika 18) bt Orissa 57 (Sitamani Tudu 28); Kerala 76 (Jeena P.S 18) bt Karnataka 65 (Navaneetha.PU 20); Delhi 73 (Shivangi Sarda 18) bt Uttar Pradesh 55 (Radha Gour 18).