News

A stellar show by Vishesh Bhriguvanshi helped ONGC (Dehradun) stop a spirited IOB (Chennai) in the men’s final of the Federation Cup basketball tournament here on Monday.

Bhriguvanshi (20 points, 9 rebounds) took over late in the third-quarter just as IOB (Chennai) was beginning to get into the groove. With IOB up 53-51, Bhriguvanshi converted two exceptional layups in transition, and from this point on, ONGC never lost faith.

The first 10 minutes, however, witnessed one-way traffic.

Troubled by Yadwinder Singh’s energetic defence, IOB stared at a huge 27-5 deficit at the end of the first-quarter, but staged a valiant comeback to narrow the lead to 31-26 at half-time.

After the restart, both teams ran neck-and-neck, before Bhriguvanshi carried ONGC to a fourth-straight Federation Cup title.

In the women’s section, an all-round show from Kerala took the side past Chhattisgarh.

Detailed Results

MEN

ONGC (Dehradun) 73 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 20, Yadwinder Singh 17, Trideep Rai 15, Riyazuddin 14) bt IOB (Chennai) 57 (Pratham Singh 25, Aravind Annadurai 13). Third-place playoff: Army Red bt Vijaya Bank 76-66.

WOMEN

Kerala 80 (Stephy Nixon 26, P.S. Jeena 22, P.S. Neenumol 21) bt Chhattisgarh 71 (Poonam Chaturvedi 33, Sharanjeet Kaur 21, V. Riya 12). Third-place: playoff: Telangana bt Southeast Central Railways 65-56.