On Sunday, Jan. 10, the 71st Junior National Championships concluded with a new champion in both the men's and women's categories.
The seven-day tournament was held at the 'Basketball Complex' near Janjeerwala Chouraha, Race Course Road in Indore, conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Basketball Association under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India.
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Here's a look at the journey of the winners in each category including their results from each game.
Men's division
In the Men's category, Rajasthan earned redemption. After finishing as runners-up in last year's edition in 2019, they defeated Chandigarh to be crowned Champions.
Congratulations to Team Rajasthan Mens on winning Gold Medal, Team Chandigarh Mens on winning Silver Medal, and Team Uttar Pradesh Men's on winning Bronze Medal.#basketball pic.twitter.com/VZ39SQmy6D
— #IndiaBasketball (@BFI_basketball) January 10, 2022
En route to reaching the Finals, they went undefeated through the group stage - winning their three matches by an average margin of 17 points.
| Team A | Score | Team B |
| Rajasthan | 90-82 | Karnataka |
| Rajasthan | 96-72 | Chattisgarh |
| Rajasthan | 86-67 | Uttar Pradesh |
In the quarterfinals, they eliminated the reigning champions - Punjab - by defeating them 74-49 before reaching the Finals by defeating Karnataka 73-69 in a hard-fought semifinal.
Three NBA Academy India alumni were part of the championship-winning squad from Rajasthan - Lokendra Singh, Jaideep Rathore and Digvijay Singh.
Women's division
In the Women's division, Punjab were crowned champions by defeating Rajasthan in the finals.
Congratulations to Team Punjab Girls on winning Gold Medal, Team Rajasthan Girls on winning Silver Medal, and Team Chhattisgarh Girls on winning Bronze Medal 🏅 #basketball #Congratulations pic.twitter.com/i98IJR4UXv
— #IndiaBasketball (@BFI_basketball) January 10, 2022
En route to reaching the knockout stage, Punjab finished 2-1 in their Group A fixtures including a 36-point victory over the reigning champions Kerala.
| Team A | Score | Team B |
| Punjab | 80-44 | Kerala |
| Punjab | 78-49 | Uttar Pradesh |
| Punjab | 56-53 | Madhya Pradesh |
In the elimination rounds, they defeated Maharashtra 90-69 in the quarterfinal before making a statement by eliminating the reigning champions in Kerala 80-59 in the semifinal.
Part of the Punjab squad is Yashneet Kaur, an alumni of the 2021 NBA Academy's Women's Virtual Program and sister of Harsimran Kaur, the only female camper ever to train at the NBA Global Academy
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