Defending men's champion Uttarakhand were shocked by Tamil Nadu as the southern side got its campaign off to a solid start in the 64th National Basketball Championships, here today.
Tamil Nadu edged past Uttarakhand 66-59 in extra-time in a close-contest at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium.
In other matches, Punjab men recorded their second win of the tournament when they overcame Rajasthan 92-78.
While Gurvinderdeep Singh scored 29 points, Gurkirpal Singh and Amritpal Singh finished with 23 and 22 respectively to take their side home.
Punjab had tamed Andhra Pradesh 92-44 yesterday.
In the women's section, Maharashtra women made a strong came back defeating Punjab 71-61 after going down to Tamil Nadu in their first match.
Kritika Devadkar scored 26 points while B Sangeetha collected 16 and Shireen Limaye finished with 11 for Maharashtra.
For Punjab, Kiranjeet Kaur (17), Nirmal Kaur (15) and Nagma Mirza (15) were the notable scorers.
Meanwhile, Basketball Federation of India (BFI) today conducted a 'Coaches Clinic' on the sidelines of the championships.
Hall of Fame coach from NBA, Del Harris and men's national team head coach Scott Flemming conducted the clinic which was attended by local and outstation basketball coaches.
The clinic was organised to enrich the knowledge of Indian coaches on teaching the fundamentals to youth.
