Northern ran out 61-52 winners but their script was very nearly spoilt by Eastern's captain and playmaker, Aparna Ghosh. She scored ten points on a trot, including a spectacular sky hook, to haul Eastern from 42-43 to 52-53. But the exit of a vital cog in the Eastern wheel, international Philomina Joseph, seemed to have affected the team morale a bit.

Shivani scored from close range, converting all her shots in the clutch period. The tallest player on court, she showed her full range of pivoting prowess.

The defeat puts Eastern hopes in jeopardy as they now have to beat the formidable Central Railway to make further progress in the event.It was a slow start for Eastern, as Northern piled up a11-3 lead. But Eastern made a concerted effort and stayed with their rivals until Shivani's great run. But their problem was they never could get going.

Though Aparna scored ten points in the fag end, her efforts were not forthcoming in offence in the first half. Her ability to drive past the defence has few peers but she tried a lay-up only once in the first session.Eastern were also slow in transition, missing as they were a key player, PN Shanta, due to an ankle injury. Then there was international Rekha Choudhary, who scored 16 points for Eastern, and only six in the second half.Northern, in contrast, were a confident lot. The trio of Shivani, Mandeep Kaur and Prabjot Gill were fabulous on the offensive board. Mandeep, a tall girl with tremendous skills, was impressive with her speed. Prabjot was consistent, draining in basket after basket with jumpers and lay-ups.

In an earlier match, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala pounded Northern Railway 91-71. RCF's trio of Balbir (29), Dildar (11), Satvar (16)were too good for RCF. Their speed in transition was one factor which Northern could not handle throughout the match. Then Northern had the problem of a centre who could do nothing in the first 10 minutes of the game. As a result their rebound collections on the defensive board suffered.

Results

Men: RCF, Kapurthala 91 (Balbir 29, Dildar 11, Satvar 16) bt Northern 71 (Tejpal 31, Ashok 11) HT 44-31; DLW 71 (Sudhir K 13, Sanjay S 14, Sandeep Yadav 15) bt North-Eastern 50 (Arun Shukla 21, Bhawar Singh 20) HT 38-18; ICF 79 (M Kannan 21, Rajan 15) bt North Frontier 39 (N Sarkar 18) HT 40-18; Western 113 (Mahendra Singh 19, Ram Kumar 16, Uday Yadav 11) bt CLW 42 (SK Singh 10) HT 59-16; Central 64 (J Mane 10, Biju Mathew 10, Abdul Hamid 12) bt Railway Board 16 (Lalit Kumar 7) HT 34-2; ICF 49 (M Kannan 13, M Dairaj 12) bt CLW 36 (B Das 12, SK Singh 10) HT 25-10.

Women: Northern 61 (Mandeep Kaur 12, Prabjot Gill 20, Shivani Gupta 16) bt Eastern 52 (Rekha Choudhary 16, KS Priti 9, Aparna Ghosh 14) HT:28-28; Western 75 (Ivy Cherian 12, Lincy Joseph 12, Sheeba Maggon 17) bt North Frontier 19 (Salima Begum 9) HT 29-12; Southern 52 (M Meena 19, J Durgadevi 10) bt North-Eastern 39 (G Bindu 11) HT 24-18.