Ludhiana hosts 73rd Senior National Basketball Championships (Men and Women) from Dec 3-10 

Ludhiana: Ludhiana is to host the prestigious 73rd Senior National Basketball Championships (Men & Women) from December 3rd to December 10th, 2023, at the iconic Guru Nanak Dev Stadium. This championship is organized by Punjab Basketball Association (PBA) under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

This has been informed by Kuldeep Singh Chahal, Police Commissioner Ludhiana who is the Chairman of the Organising Committee in the presence of senior executives of PBA Mukhvinder Singh Bhullar SSP (VP PBA), Teja Singh Dhaliwal, Gen Sec PBA and many a key functionary of the Punjab Basketball Association. 

A total of over 1200 players, officials from all over Indian States will turnup at Ludhiana.

The Chief Patron of the tournament Sanjeev Arora MP (Rajya Sabha),President of PBA R S Gill IPS (DGP Pb Retd.), Yurinder Singh Hayer Sr.VP of PBA and other key functionaries are coordinating in complete consonance to make this event a great success by involving all including prominent NGOs and entrepreneurs who are also supporting financially.        

Coaches Rajinder Singh Head Coach, Jaipal Singh, Ravinder Gill(Men), and Coach Saloni (Women) of  PBA give details that more than 200 matches will be held in 4 Basketball Courts of which two are indoors. Matches would be played daily from 8 AM to 12 PM in the morning session and from 3 PM to 10 PM in the Evening Session. 64 teams (33 men and 31 women teams) representing 33 States and UTs from across India will compete. As per the Tournament Format the teams would be divided into 6 groups. Teams first play their league matches which will be followed by pre-quarterfinals, quarterfinals, and finals with more than 200 matches in Ludhiana courts. Four  playgrounds equipped with electronic scoreboards, 24-second devices, and dunking poles and boards of international specifications4 playgrounds equipped with electronic scoreboards, 24-second devices, and dunking poles and boards of international specifications. Over 100 technical officials have been engaged by BFI to ensure fair and efficient gameplay. There will be international referees too.

Teja Singh Dhaliwal informs about arrangements and stated that elaborate befitting arrangements have been made by the organising committee team for good accommodation in city’s hotels numbering around 450 including at PAU. Teams will be received at special reception counters being setup at Ludhiana Railway Station, ISBT Bus Stand and Airport Chandigarh. Transport arrangements have been made to fetch teams to their place of stay. Players officials will be daily fetched from their rooms to the grounds. Food kitchen arrangement have been made to provide three times meals which also include special arrangements for South Indian food for players of those states. Visitors and sports lovers will also be provided tea and snacks complimentary and there is no fees or ticket to witness the matches. However, strict decorum at the menu will be maintained with the help of police authorities as well as professional security personnel. All arrangements of sanitary and drinking water are in place.   

To present the outsiders with its rich Punjabi heritage inauguration as well as closing will witness Punjabi cultural bonanza while special arrangements for outside visitors are being made for their visits to Golden Temple and other places of interests too in Punjab. Many people from overseas are also coming. Commercial city of Ludhiana will also witness good winter merchandise sales. Entrepreneurs are requested to support financially. Presence will be given in Basketball Courts and special souvenir of the games which will also be covered by YouTube channels and other media.

It was told that Ludhiana boasts of an unparallel legacy of basketball excellence also being the birth place of Basketball in India. Ludhiana hosted the first-ever national basketball tournament in 1951. The city has the unique distinction of hosting the National Basketball Championships more than 10 times. Notable achievements include Punjab's reign as the national champion for the past two years and the recent Gold Medal at the National Games in Goa. PBA is the only state to send players to the prestigious NBA in the United States, with the Ludhiana Basketball Academy under PBA producing numerous players achieving international recognition. Punjab has won the Sr. National Championship Gold record 9 times for Men and 7 times by Women in past years.Stake for Punjab’s teams are high again

“Let us all support this gala National Basketball Tournament wholeheartedly as this is matter of Ludhiana’s as well as State’s prestige as a host. The 73rd Senior National Basketball Championships promises an exhilarating Basketball Thrill in December Chill at Ludhiana which is a matter of pride for us. Chairman also thanks Ankita Gupta Chairman of FICCI Flo who is taking care of collaborating for taking care of women players/officials from outside states.”  –Chairman Organising Committee.” 

Chairman specially compliments team of PBA and District Basketball Association which are in complete coordination. The team members are HS Brar (DSO), Balkar Brar, Vijay Chopra, Sumesh Chadha,Parminder Singh Heer, PPS, Parminder Singh Bhandal, PPS (Arjuna Awardee), JP Singh PCS retired, Mukti Gill, Brij Bhushan Goyal, Satish Malhotra, PPS retired, Gurjeet Romana,PPS retired, Rajinder Singh, Narinder Sharma, Harjinder Singh, Jaipal Singh, Saloni, Sukhminder Singh and Ravinder Gill besides others.