The 1st Nagaland Open Basketball Championship was won by Orca Team from Kohima on 15 December.
The championship was organised by the Basketball Association Mokokchung District (BAMD) in collaboration with the Nagaland Basketball Association (NBA).
Read more: Mokokchung: 1st Nagaland Open Basketball Tournament begins
Longdiba L Sangtam, SDO (C) Mokokchung, graced the closing ceremony as the Special Guest at the Imkongmeren Sports Complex, Basketball Court, Mokokchung.
Sangtam, in his speech, said basketball was born in 1891 in Springfield, USA which has become a very popular game in the world today.
He said the popularity of the sport is slowly taking place in the state particularly in urban areas. Seeing the interest in the game among the youngsters, he said the lack of infrastructure hampers the progress of the sport but acknowledged the speedy construction of the Basketball Court by BAMD which he said was a humble beginning.
Orca and Kohima Chiefs along with special guest Longdiba L Sangtam, SDO (Civil) Mokokchung and the organisers. (Credit: Chubasenla Longchar)
The SDO expressed his belief that such infrastructure development would foster the youths to upgrade their skills and talents. He also mentioned the efforts made by the country in the field of sports.
Sangtam further congratulated the BAMD for organising the first ever Nagaland Open Basketball Championship in Mokokchung district and giving a platform for the youngsters and providing opportunities to showcase their talents.
He encouraged the players to seriously take up the profession and continue to work hard with discipline.
In an intense final match, Orca Team emerged victorious over Kohima Chiefs in a set of four quarters with the score 83:79.
Final match between Orca (pink and blue) and Kohima Chiefs (black and white). (Credit: Chubasenla Longchar)
Earlier in the first semi-final match, Kohima Chiefs won over Tepenjem with the score of 97:76. The second semi-final match was won by team Orca over TMB with the score of 85: 64.
Speaking to NTN, James Bamon, technical convenor of Basketball Federation of India (Incharge North East) from Shillong who was one of the match officials of the tournament congratulated the BAMD for having successfully organized the tournament despite being a newly formed association.
He appreciated the team work and advised them to continue with the same team spirit, which he believed would lead basketball in the district to grow in greater heights with that of Kohima and Dimapur.
Bamon observed that the players are well-built and said they have the qualities of being good players but stressed on the importance of being coached under proper professionals to compete at a higher level and to prosper. He also stressed on the two main key areas – the referees and coaching – to promote the game in the state as well as in the national level and said he is looking forward in the future for the NBA and the BAMD to bring in development.
He encouraged the players to keep on working hard, maintain discipline, be physically and mentally fit, set goals and try to upgrade themselves with the development and advancement taking place in order to place their spot as he said basketball is the second fastest growing sport in the world.
Speaking to NTN, Keneizelhou Kevin Tale, captain of Orca Team, expressed his joy on winning the first ever championship in Mokokchung district against Kohima Chiefs whom they considered as tough competition.
Keneizelhou Kevin Tale, Captain of Orca Team. (Credit: Chubasenla Longchar)
He appreciated their coach and the management committee under whose constant support they were able to excel and also acknowledged his team players who he said have been constantly practicing and making sacrifices in their efforts.
Reflecting on the match played with the team Tepenjem from Mokokchung district, Tale said the team has good potential players and could improve if they practise more. Two of them from team Orca – Chumbemo Kikon and Keneizelhou Kevin Tale – are the representatives at the national and Northeast zone.
Orca Team was formed in the year 2016 with the motto ‘Teamwork makes the Dream work’. The team is led by coach Thejavlezo Keyho. The team’s first notable achievement was securing runners-up in the Suncity OBT tournament in 2019, followed by runners-up in Oriental College OBT in 2020 and runners-up in TBC tourney in 2021. The team also won its first ever championship in The Winter Cup 2021 and was again crowned Champions in the JV Foundation Basketball tournament in 2022.
The team manager of Kohima Chiefs expressed the team’s gratitude to BAMD for organising such a successful and promotional tournament for the first time. “We have enjoyed and the hospitality was very good,” he expressed. He said that they were expecting more in the second edition as well.
Kohima Chiefs. (Credit: Chubasenla Longchar)
The manager said the team is managed by seven members currently with 15 players. He informed that five players from team KC are representing the state at the national levels and the Northeast zone – Keneitsizo Belho, Keneisezo Theünuo, Seyeivizo Kire, Rilise K Thonger and Kezhaseluo Pienyii.
Keneitsizo Belho, team captain of Kohima Chiefs, expressed: “losing is a part of the game and we take it positively”.
Keneitsizo Belho, captain of Kohima Chiefs. (Credit: Chubasenla Longchar)
Belho said the team had given their best performance and remarked that they would come back stronger in the next championship.
The champions of the tournament, Orca Team from Kohima, received citations and a monetary prize of Rs 60,000 while the runner’s-up, Kohima Chiefs, also from Kohima, received Rs 30,000.
Chumbemo Kikon from Orca Team was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament and received a cash prize of Rs 5,000.
Chumbemo Kikon, Orca Team – MVP of the tournament. (Credit: Chubasenla Longchar)
The closing programme was chaired by Lanunechetla. The invocation was pronounced by pastor Noksangmeren Longkumer, Advisor BAMD while the vote of thanks was delivered by BAMD office bearers.
