CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu men’s team, which won the 5×5 national championship last week, won the 3×3 title at the Senior National Basketball Championship held in Bangalore on Sunday.
Unlike the 5×5 final, TN had a difficult task of defeating Uttar Pradesh 21-16 in the close-fought summit showdown. The young UP team trailed by six points at the halfway stage and looked like they were going to be eliminated.
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But UP mounted a strong comeback and cut the gap to just two points (16-18) with just over two minutes left.
However, TN’s experience in high-pressure situations proved decisive as they secured the next three points to take the crown. In the previous four editions, TN has won the trophy twice. Interestingly, three of TN’s four players were part of the team that won the recent 5×5 title.
Indian international Pranav Prince is once again the star of TN. He was involved throughout the talks along with Arvind Muthu Krishnan. “Two of UP’s players (Harsh Duggar and Kushal Singh) had recently represented India in the juniors. UP had a good side and were competitive. We had a plan of our own. We had a strategy and we didn’t really think about the scoreboard. We knew they were going to come close and make us run, so it was all about how quickly we could finish the contest. I did,” Pranav told TOI.
TN remained unbeaten in six games and dominated throughout the tournament. Despite having a few training sessions after the 5×5 national competition, TN adapted quickly. “We didn’t have too many training sessions, but everyone has good experience playing in this format. We knew how this format worked, so it was difficult to adapt in a short period of time. There wasn’t,” Pranav said.
TN will now begin preparations for the national tournament, which begins on January 28th. Earlier in the day, the Tennessee women’s team lost 12-16 to Kerala in the title match and settled for the silver medal.
