Jharkhand outplay Bihar in East Zone basketball tourney

Jamshedpur: Hosts Jharkhand trounced Bihar 58-20 in the opener of the East Zone Basketball Championship for men`s and women`s on Wednesday.

Jharkhand dominated the proceedings right from the start and led the half time 28-6 before wrapping up the match comfortably at the newly-built Indian Steel and Wire Products Limited (ISWP) sports complex. Rakesh Sangwan emerged as highest scorer with 18 while Narendra netted 8 points for the winners. Bihar`s Manvendra top scored with 15 points. Earlier, Nerurkar flanked by ISWP Managing Director, Pradeep Srivastava, who himself was a basketball player of international repute in the 1980s and President of Jharkhand State Basketball Association (JSBA), inaugurated the sports complex which has facilities for Volleyball, football, Archery, walking tracks, besides the basketball court. The facility was developed over 400 sq meter land owned by the company. Amit Sahay, Chief (HR) of ISWP, said the purpose was to provide sports facilities to the community and hone the hidden local talents. Sahay claimed that the facilities available in the complex were of international standard. In the men`s section, defending champions Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Tripura & host Jharkhand will vie for honours while in the women`s section, defending champions Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Odisha, UP & host Jharkhand will slug it out in the four-day meet. PTI