Court of gold: CG girls outplay Kerala in thrilling final to win Junior National Basketball C’ship

The Chhattisgarh girls’ basketball team clinched the gold medal at the 76th Junior National Basketball Championship in Puducherry on Friday, defeating Kerala 55-51 in a closely contested final.

The tournament was organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Puducherry Basketball Association.

Divya Rangari led the scoring for Chhattisgarh with 22 points, while captain Anjali Kodape contributed 14 points. Rumi Konwar and Anjani scored 7 points each, followed by Aditi Kodape with 3 points and Sara Singh with 2 points. Sophie Sika and Nandini Madho Pradhan also delivered crucial performances to ensure the team’s victory.

Chhattisgarh entered the final after defeating Karnataka 67-62 in the semi-finals. Earlier, the team beat Maharashtra 56-44 in the quarter-finals. During the league stage, Chhattisgarh registered victories against top teams including Karnataka and multi-time defending champions Tamil Nadu. Throughout the tournament, the core group of Rangari, Konwar, Aditi Kodape, Anjali Kodape, Anjani, Sika, and Pradhan maintained consistent form.

Chhattisgarh squad included Anjali Kodape (Captain), Aditi Kodape, Anjani, Rumi Konwar, Sophie Sika, Nandini Madho Pradhan, Natasha Prajapati (Rajnandgaon), Divya Rangari (Mahasamund), Parul Verma (Raipur), Nitya Pandey (Raipur), Kalash Jha (Bhilai), and Sara Singh (Bhilai).