It will rain baskets from today
The stage is set for the twelfth edition of the state-level Basketball Champions Trophy inter-club championship for men and women slated to begin at St Thomas’ floodlit courts in Kuriannoor, Pathanmthitta on Tuesday.
The five-day event will be conducted as a prelude to the twenty sixth Federation Cup that is slated to begin on March 13 in Kochi. The team that triumphs in the Champions Trophy will represent Kerala in the Federation Cup.
The Champions Trophy will feature 12 teams in the mens category and four in the womens. Several international stars are expected to participate in the tournament.
Eudric Pereira, Monish Wilson, Subash J. Shenoy, Akhil Mathew Sunny, Vijobi Vakkachan are among the major players in the men’s section while the star players in the women’s section include Stephy Nixon, Sonia Joy, Neenumol P. S. and P. S. Jeenamol.
Among the teams that will be battling for the honours are Central Excise Kochi, KSEB Thriuvanthapuram, BSNL Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Police, Mar Ivanios College Thiruvanathapuram, S B College Changanacherry, Mar Athanios College Kothamangalam Assumption College Changanacherry, Kerala Varma College Thrissur and Sports Authority of India centres in Thallassery, Kozhikode and Thrissur.
The venue for the championship also has a special place in the basketball tradition of the state as it has, over the years, produced close to 100 university level and state level players. Moreover, the championship was previously hosted at the venue in 2007.
Back then the winners were Central Excise and KSEB in the mens and womens categories respectively while the runners-up were BSNL and SAI.
The previous edition of the Champions Trophy was held in Kandasankadavu and it was KSEB that took the titles in both the categories. The ‘power’ men and women ousted Mar Ivanios and Assumption for the titles in both categories.
On Tuesday SAI Kozhikode will take on St. Michael’s College Cherthala and in the other matches S B College will play Mar Athanasious and UTC Thalassery will lock horns with St. Joseph’s Club Thiruvananthapuram.
The first women’s match will be on Wednesday and last year’s runners-up team Assumption will play Alphonsa College Pala. The semifinals will be on Friday and both the final matches are scheduled for Saturday.
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