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Mumbai boy, Chennai girl win NBA Skills Challenge

Danish Qureshi of Hume High School, Mumbai, and  Nishanti of St. Joseph's Anglo Indian Secondary School, Chennai, were crowned champions in the  Jr. NBA and Jr WNBA National Skills Challenge and earned an all-expense paid trip to the NBA headquarters in the US.

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At the Indian Gymkhana basketball courts on Sunday evening, Qureshi and Nishanti dished out an impressive exhibition of their skills to emerge triumphant from a field of 50 students in the 10 -12 age group from  Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Pune.

They received a glittering trophy, an HP laptop and a pair of Adidas shoes from NBA star Brandon Jennings.

Impressive show by young cagers

Jennings, who was impressed by the talent displayed by some of the kids, gave the students useful tips on the game and demonstrated a few tricks, too.

Geethu Anna Jose, the Indian women national team captain, too was pleased with the talent and determination displayed by some of the students and had encouraging words for the winners, who will have the opportunity to train with an NBA coach, visit the NBA league headquarters and historic landmarks in New York.

The 50 students, who participated in the Skills challenge, too went home all smiles as they were presented a basketball ball, Adidas shoes and trophy.

The Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA program in India, supported by Basketball Federation of India (BFI), HP, Spalding, and Ten Sports saw around 500 schools from five cities participate in the Skills Challenge, a competition that tests the participants' abilities in various basketball fundamentals, including dribbling, passing, and shooting.