Income Tax, Delhi defeated Coimbatore District BasketBall Association 87-78 in the inaugural match of the 53rd All India Basketball Championnship for Men here today.
In the women's section for the CRI Pumps Trophy, KSEB Thiruananthapuram walloped Tamil Nadu Juniors 74-34.
The winners led 36-17 at half time.
In the men's match, the taxmen trailed 37-40 at half time, but rallied well to win the game by just nine points.
Vishal kumar and Rachit played well for the winners, netting 23 and 16 points, while G Gerard sunk 21 points and Vinith Kumar 19 for the losers.
The start of the matches were delayed by 90 minutes due to rains.
Punjab Police, Punjab, Indian Air Force, Delhi, Customs (Chennai), Arise Steel (Chennai), Indian Railway, Delhi, ASC Bengaluru, Income Tax, Delhi and CBDA are the teams vying for honours in the men's event for the Nachimuthu Gounder Cup.
The women's section has Eastern Railway, Kolkata, Kerala Police, Thiruvananthapuram, South-West Railway, Hubli, Arise steel, Chennai, Sports Hostel, Mysuru,KSEB,Thiruvananthapuram, Tamil Nadu juniors and CBDA in the fray.