Come March 13,the Deccan Gymkhana basketball courts will play host to the 11th edition of the Fireball invitational basketball tournament. The tournament was started in 2001 by the Leo Club Pune,a students social organisation of Bharatiya Vidyapeeth College,and has grown rapidly in popularity since then,with more and more college teams participating every year. International-level players such as Karna Mehta,Karan Malhotra and Akshay Bhosale,as well as several national-level players have participated in Fireball in the past. This year,more than 60 college teams have registered for the tournament,with entries from cities like Delhi and Surat also expected,said a release. A corporate trophy was also introduced two years ago as part of Fireball,and 20 companies from around the city have entered teams this year,both in the mens and womens category. As the biggest annual invitational basketball tournament in the state,Fireball has become hugely popular in the city and is one of the most awaited events of the year on the basketball circuit,with huge crowds cheering on the teams,said the release. In fact,the ten-day tournament has attracted the likes of sports channels ESPN and Star Sports,who have been sponsoring it since two years. The organisers are in talks with the two channels to get broadcast rights for Fireball 2010. We hope to be able to broadcast it on television,which will raise theFireball tournamets status, said Vivek Gautam,member,Leo Club Pune.
