INDORE: The 74th junior nationals basketball championship slated to begin at the Emerald Heights International School in Indore from Wednesday will be an opportunity for Maharashtra cagers to regain their lost glory.
While the Maharashtra girls team will look to finish on top of the table, their boys outfit aim to be among the best eight teams in India by gaining their spot in the upper pool of the seven-day championship organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).
The Indian boys and girls teams for the forthcoming Asian championships will be selected from these nationals.
In the absence of a valid state association in Maharashtra the BFI-appointed committee conducted the selection trials at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Following a two-day trials, the probable players attended the preparatory camp under experienced coaches and both the boys and girls teams were declared on Monday.
The girls’ outfit of Maharashtra stand a chance to retain the national title but they need to be perfect under the glass. In December 2022, the same batch of Maharashtra girls team won the youth (U-16) crown in Indore when the defeated hosts Madhya Pradesh 79-75 in the final.
MAHARASHTRA TEAMS
BOYS: Taufiq Shaikh, Shreyas Malvankar, ?Raghav Sharma, ?Gautum Bhamre, Sachin Gurjar, ?Sarthak Dhuldhule, Kevin Chalapura, Gautam Shah, ?Ritik Dhaka, Zeeshan Qureshi, Karan Dhilod, Yogesh Yadav
GIRLS: Muskan Singh, Akshaya Patil, Rajvi Maladhari, Harshali Jadhav, Gunjan Mantri, Samiksha Patil, Sara Chopde, Twisha Sharma, Ananya Bhavasar, Shreya Jadhav, Arpita Mayekar, Unnati Dongre.
