Mumbai: Pooja Ajmera played her role to perfection as Bandra Gymkhana outplayed their counterpart from Andheri 41-32 to storm into the women’s final of the Mastan YMCA basketball tournament held at their courts at Nagpada on Tuesday.
Pooja was well backed by Ninah Kaiser and Yashika Panchal as the trio made numerous openings as the Bandra girls dominated in three of the four quarters. Their rivals were found wanting in the second quarter, as time and again they were off the target to allow them to lead 18-14. But they hit back tellingly in the third and fourth quarters as opportunist Shreya Salian found the baskets frequently to narrow the margin. She scored 17 points.
But Pooja and Yashika saw to it that their team stay ahead to win the tie. They take on Indian Gymkhana, who beat Holy Cross 44-43 in a nail-biting finish. The tie was furiously fought as both tried to outwit the other till the very end. In fact, Indian Gymkhana were trailing by a point (42-43) before Kimberley Fernandes got them the winning basket with just before the final whistle.
Results: WOMEN (Semifinal): Bandra YMCA 41 (Ninah Kaiser 17, Pooja Ajmera 12) bt Andheri YMCA 32 (Shreya Salian 17). Indian Gym 44 (Vrushali Hatangadi 28, Rachael Netto 8) bt Holy Cross 43 (Taneisha Monteiro 14, Bhargavi Gadre 10).
