Chennai, Dec 23 (IANS) A young and relatively inexperienced Tamil Nadu turned back a 19-35 first half deficit to edge out Uttarakhand 56-54 and enter the men's semi-finals where they meet last year's runners-up Services, a fortuitous 88-77 winners against Kerala in the 62nd senior National basketball championships, here on Thursday.
Also entering the penultimate round were Punjab who crushed Haryana 117-59, and will take on title holders Indian Railways who put out Delhi 100-93 in extra-time after the teams were deadlocked at 85-85 at the end of regulation period.
In the women's quarter-finals, defending champions Indian Railways led the way with a commanding 102-32 win over Karnataka and will take on hosts Tamil Nadu who beat Maharashtra 79-51.
Last year's finalists Delhi expectedly made the semi-finals handing out a 76-49 defeat to Uttar Pradesh and will next meet Chattisgarh who ousted Kerala 78-65.
Services, who had lost two of their four league matches, looked certain to taste another defeat when they trailed a buoyant Kerala 31-38 at the break, but turned the tide in their favour with a strong third quarter (29-14) performance.
Kerala raised a gallop in the early stages of the match, jumping to a 26-13 in the first quarter, but failed to sustain the momentum, though they kept Services in sights. The fourth quarter finally sealed Kerala's fate as the Services kept their nose in front (28-25) to emerge winners.
Leading the Services charge were Praveen Kumar (24) and Narender Grewal (22) after Ajith V.G. (19) and Monish Wilson (17) had ensured Kerala's early dominance.
Later, in a match that swung from one end to the other, Railways were given a torrid time by Delhi with both teams winning two quarters apiece before the champions, who led 39-38 at half-time, showed their mettle in the extra-time that they took 15-8 for a hard-fought victory.
Kerala's day of misery was complete when their women's team went down to Chattisgarh 65-78 in a match that could have gone either way at the end of a touch-and-go tie.
The results (quarter-finals):
Men: Punjab 117 (Talwinder Singh 26, Amritpal Singh 23) bt Haryana 59 (Deepak Rathee 28, Hemant Sheoran 11). Ht: 69-35.
Indian Railways 100 (Gagandeep Singh 34, Prakash Mishra 23, Dilawar Singh 18, Sunil Kumar 12) bt Delhi 93 (Praveen Doval 32, Vipin Kaushin 16, Pardeep Kumar 16, Sachin Sharma 13). Ht: 39-38.
Services 88 (Praveen Kumar 24, Narender Grewal 22) bt Kerala 77 (Ajith VG 19, Monish Wilson 17). Ht: 31-38.
Tamil Nadu 56 (Rikin Pethani 14, MA Raghu Ram 14) bt Uttarakhand 54 (Muarli Krishna R. 25, Anoop Mukkanniyil 11). Ht: 19-35.
Women: Indian Railways 102 (S Kokila 16, Renu Maurya 14, Harjeet Kaur 14) bt Karnataka 32 (Sandhyam 5, Amruta VMane 5). Ht: 46-18.
Chhattisgarh 78 (Kavita 23, Seema Singh 18) bt Kerala 65 (Jeena.PS 23, Soniya Joy 11, Surya PR 11). Ht: 36-23.
Delhi 76 (Pratima Singh 30, Prashanti Singh 17, Sonkia Ohlyan 12) bt Uttar Pradesh 49 (Ranjana Singh 21). Ht: 39-13.
Tamil Nadu 79 (Neena Hareendran 18, Alagu Tamil Mozhi 12, N.Shyamala Suguna J 11) bt Maharashtra 51 (Shireen Limaye 12, Kritika Divakar 11). Ht: 41-17.