Indian men suffer third defeat, women record first win

Melbourne, Mar 20 (UNI) In what turned out to be a gross mismatch, Indian men surrendered to hosts Australia 49-133 suffering their third loss on the trot even as the women cagers managed their first win edging past Mozambique 58-54 in the basketball competition at the Commonwealth Games here today.

In a lopsided affair, the Australians toyed with their rivals and scored at will as the Indians, after three successive defeats, neither had the stamina nor the enegy to confront the hosts on the court and on top of it, they lacked planning or tactics for such a tie.

Trideep Rai top scored for the Indians with 14 points, followed by M Ravindran (9) and Sanjay Rai (8).

For the hosts, main scorers were Jason Smith, Mark Washington (18 each), Brad Newley (15) and C J Burton (12).

However in the women section, Indians recorded a win at last when they downed Mozambique 58-54 in a close contest.

Anna Jose and Shiba Jason were joint top scorers for India with 17 points each, followed by Anitha Pauldurai (9).

For the losers, Muloi Deolinda Gimo was the main scorer with 15 points.

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