KOTTAYAM : For a tournament with gates, it may not be the start that would pull in the crowds. But formalities have to be gone through and Kerala men thrashed Pondicherry 100-62 in the 46th South Zone senior basketball championship opener at the Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.
The match was a quiet affair. Kerala, taller, stronger and with many big names like Subash Shenoy, Monish Wilson, Bobit Mathew and Vineeth Ravi in its ranks, soon raced to a big lead.
The match was so lopsided that an organising official rushed to the Kerala bench in the first quarter and spoke about the effect a tight contest would have on the gates.
A minute later, as the Pondicherry boys moved forward, the Kerala coach P.J. Sebastian, a young and sporting fellow, told his boys to slow down. "Let them shoot," he shouted from the bench.
Soon, the host lowered its guard. And without much of a defence to trouble it, Pondicherry boys started scoring, though Kerala's lead was too big to catch up.
Kerala led 38-20 after the first quarter and for the rest of the match, the host played with its second string.
K.M. Mathew, chief editor of Malayala Manorama, inaugurated the five-day tournament.
The scores: Men: Group B: Kerala 100 (R. Manoj 22, Vineeth Ravi 11, Subash Shenoy 11) bt Pondicherry 62 (R.Praveen 14, S. Kumaran 12).
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