Kohima, May 24 (EMN): The 9th Open Basketball Tournament (OBT) got underway at Kohima local ground on Wednesday evening with Khekaho Assumi, parliamentary secretary for Youth Resources and Sports as the chief guest. The tournament is organised by the Nagaland Basketball Association (NBA) and Suncity Club Kohima.
During the inaugural match, S. Naga Trouncers trounced St Joseph College, Jakhama by 42-32. Team Orca exploded 56-27 Team Waxbill in the second match and Team Titan overpowered Team Highland Dazzlers, Mokokchung by 69-49. In the fourth match, Buzzards lost to Skyhooks 26-35.
With the matches playing the knockout system in the first round, St Joseph, Team Waxbill, Highland Dazzlers and Buzzards are out of the tournament.
The last match between Team Doberman and Tiyi Hoopers was postponed.
Four teams namely Amplified, Taurus, Team Mystic Ballers (A), and Werewolves, Kohima received byes in the 1st round and are pool leaders. Eight winning teams will be joining them in the second round where the matches will be played under league system.
Earlier, Khekaho Assumi, parliamentary secretary for Youth Resources and Sports speaking at the programme encouraged the sportsperson to take sports as a profession. He asserted that there are many ways to earn through sports and further encouraged the sportspersons to use their talents in sports not only for earning money but also bring fame and pride for the state.
Speaking in the context of the Nagaland scenario, he said Nagas are far lacking behind from the mainland, so he called upon the Nagas in general to stand together united in peace and harmony in any field of works and also have interactions with one another to bridge the gap. He also informed that with the initiative, five new basketball courts are also on the radar in the state; 2 in Kohima, 2 in Dimapur and 1 in Mokokchung.
Zhaleo Rio IAS (Rtd) MLA & President, NBA delivering his presidential address said that NBA was formed in the year 2001 and the association got its affiliation to Nagaland Olympic Association in the year 2011. On basketball, he said very often Nagas gives a wrong impression about playing basketball games keeping in view of the physical structures of the Nagas and further emphasized that many talented players of the younger generations are emerging in the field of basketball games.
Lamenting on the sports infrastructure in Nagaland, he impressed upon the sports minister to build more basketball court to promote the youngsters and interest of the public.
