Update from the CBSE Basketball Nationals in Chhattisgarh, India

(players unsuccessfully try to trash talk Abu … who simply smiles)

The Senior Nationals are about to get under way in Delhi, but theres another basketball tournament taking place in India that not many are talking about. The CBSE Nationals in Chhattisgarh will begin on the 27 th of December and will involve approximately 30-35 teams. I say approx. because not all the teams that qualified out of their respective clusters are expected to make the journey to participate.

The DPS Boys team would not have been able to travel to Jammu for the J&K CBSE Clusters if it weren’t for a tremendous amount of work on the part of Abu Bakr. Basically he was a one man show when it came to convincing the school to allow the students to travel to Jammu. If it were not for his efforts, or if he had given up easily, the team would have never been able to participate. Abu’s efforts won out, however, and the team attended the Jammu clusters.

In Jammu, one by one, opponents fell victim to the DPS boys team tenacious style of play. One team wore pink turbans on the court, a possible breach of uniform code, in an effort to distract our boys, but it was to no avail. The humid Jammu air was continually pierced with the sound of the ball swishing through the nylon net. The DPS boys were simply on fire and there was very little anybody could do or say about it.

DPS competed in the tournament with only 5 players, no substitutes. One of the players, Javed Mir, was back on the court after a long hiatus from the game, in which he focused on his studies and also looking extremely cool in a leather coat and sunglasses. During the tournament, his role was primarily on defense and he didn’t touch the ball much on offense. Lo and behold, during a tense moment in the semi final match, Javed found himself with the ball and the clock winding down. Abu Bakr was being triple teamed … Javed decided to shoot and let the ball fly ………..

Instead of being cute and trying to sugar coat the moment, let me give it to you straight up like this ….. Ladies and Gentlemen HE DRAINED THE SHOT !

Casual observers of the tournament were quick to notice that the spectators who filled the stands during the DPS boys matches, tended to be female, perhaps not coincidentally, due to the fact that our boys are not only great students/athletes, but quite dashing as well. Not much was expected of the team from Srinagar, but by the end of the tournament, they had turned heads and won hearts.

I could go on and on .. but in the end the DPS boys lost a very physical gold medal match by one point, after having a player foul out and finishing the game with 4 players. The gold and silver medalists qualify for nationals, however, so the DPS Boys survived to play another day.

That day has now arrived, as have the DPS boys team, after a three day journey by train, bus and rickshaw. I was able to speak with Abu Bakr by phone, and he told me the trip was not exactly first class as far as comfort and convenience, but thats life … you don’t always marry the beauty queen. He wouldn’t trade this moment for all the tea in China. This is the moment he’s being preparing for and worked so hard to get to.

When I spoke with him, he peppered me with questions on how to handle a full court press, which he anticipates facing. This kind of pre game preparation is why Abu Bakr is the captain of the team. He’s not simply happy to be there, he is there to compete and win. You can be sure teams will throw two or even three defenders at Abu to try to slow him down … good luck …. he has ice water in his veins.

The draw for the tournament will be held on the 26th and the first game will be the next day. The team doesn’t have access to the Internet so don’t try to contact them. They were able to hold a practice and work on some things today. Ex DPS coach Sumit Richhariya will be at the tournament with a girls team he is now coaching at a school in Delhi. ‘Sumit Sir’ might resume his familiar place on the DPS bench, next to the players he previously coached, before leaving for greener pastures earlier this year. As soon as the tournament ends, Abu will catch a plane back to prepare for his exams and his college entrance.

DPS Roster:Essa malik, Zarak younis bhat, Raja arsalan, Mir Ahmed omer, Faizan, Wasiq, javed mir, Sualeh baba, Zehran younis bhat, Salik khan, Uzair shafi, and Abu Bakr