Punjab cops win Fed Cup basketball

Holders and hot favourites Punjab Police retained the men's title, thrashing hosts Tata Steel 83-50 in the final of the 18th Federation Cup basketball championships, at the J R D Tata Sports Complex, in Jamshedpur, on Monday evening.

Despite having the advantage of home ground and a supportive crowd, the Tata Steel cagers failed to live up on the D-day as the policemen never looked back after registering an early lead.

Punjab Police had a healthy lead of 37-26 at the breather.

Already trailing by a big margin, Tata Steel made some strategical mistakes, like playing their injured captain Jaldeep Dhagiwal.

On the other hand, Punjab Police played like an overhauled machine, with captain Parminder Singh, Gagnesh Kumar and junior Parminder Singh, who netted 28 points, combining well.

Parminder (senior) and Gagnesh Kumar scored 22 and 22 points respectively.

For Tata Steel, internationals Mohit Bhandari basketted 13 points, while Riazuddin and N S Rawat scored 10 and 9 points each.

Punjab Police had lost to Tata Steel in their group league match.

Basketball Federation of India president B K Saba gave away the prizes.