Hosts Central have their task cut out

MUMBAI, April 5: The BFI calendar. That sentence could qualify for the shortest joke in the annals of Indian humour. The schedule of the ...

MUMBAI, April 5: The BFI calendar. That sentence could qualify for the shortest joke in the annals of Indian humour. The schedule of the senior basketball Nationals is always a matter of deep suspense, while the departure of teams for International tournaments is a commando-like cover-up operation.

This year, the Railways Sports Board has emulated the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). The Inter-Railways tournament for men and women, a selection tourney for the December Nationals (never mind if it was held in March), has seen three revisions in schedule between November and April. Finally, it gets under way at Nagpada here tomorrow.

Though no berth in the National squad is at stake, the presence of a galaxy of internationals lends the tournament glitter. It is common knowledge that the Railways women’s league, boasting 13 internationals in the seven teams, is of a quality far superior to the National championships.

Ironically, defending champions Central Railway do not have even one currentinternational in their ranks. Their challenge will come from Southern with four internationals, Jeena Zachariah, Meenulatha, Prasanna Jayashankar and BS Shaila and Eastern, featuring Aparna Ghosh, Philomina Joseph, Rekha Choudhary and Preeti Vanita.

Sharing the local advantage with Central are Western Railway, for whom Ivy Cherian, Sheeba Magan (returning after a stint in the US) and Shalu Sharma have donned India colours.

Central and runner-up Southern have been placed in two different pools. Central have to contend with Northern and Eastern, while Southern have a relatively easy time against unknown entities North Frontier and North East, and have only Western to beat.

The men’s league pales in contrast, even though 16 teams are participating. They have been divided into four groups, with winners Western Railway in Group A, runner-up South Central in Group B, and semi-finalists Diesel Loco World and Central Railway in Group C and Group D respectively.

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Western are the clear favourites with theevergreen Ram Kumar guiding some youngsters like Ranjit Singh, who plays centre and has represented India in the ABC Junior championships at Calcutta.

Groupings

Men

Group A: Western, Integral Coach Factory, Chittaranjan Loco Works, North Frontier Railway. Group B: South-Central, RCF Kapurthala, Reserch Design & Standard Organisation, Northern. Group C: Diesel Loco Works, Southern, Diesel Components Works, North-Eastern. Group D: Central, Eastern, South-Eastern, CPT.

Women

Group A: Central, Northern, South-Central, Eastern. Group B: Southern, North Frontier Railway, North-Eastern, Western.

Railways: Lifeline in Kerala

The dominance of Kerala in National women’s basketball is truly phenomenal. Out of 84 women in the seven teams, 35 hail from the tiny Southern state — Northern Railway being the only side without a single Kerala player.

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It is a wonder, then, that despite losing its top five players year after year to the Railways Board, Keralastill manage to do well at the Nationals, underlined by a runner-up finish at Jaipur this year.

Players attribute it to the quality of coaches, and the state’s sports council scheme, which offers scholarships and educational concessions to sports under-graduates.

Central Railway veteran Sheelamma Varghese, who had PT Usha as a classmate in the first sports council batch almost 20 years ago, says, “In the villages of Kerala, parents encourage the girls to take up sports. At the back of their mind is the knowledge that they will get a Railways job if they perform well at the National level.”

From this year, the exodus will be stemmed a bit as the Electricity Board has floated Kerala’s second professional women’s team, beside FACT. “We would obviously like to play in Kerala instead of teams outside,” said Varghese.