Bhamara turns emotional, cheers for his teammates

Anil Datt
Ludhiana, December 28

Satnam Singh Bhamara was among other spectators to witness the title clash matches in the men’s and women’s section on the final day of the 70th Senior National Basketball Championship that concluded in Ludhiana on Saturday.

Bhamara, the first Indian basketball player to be drafted into the NBA team four years ago, is waiting for the dope test report on the basis of which he was provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) last month.

He, however, disputed this charge and requested for a hearing before the Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel to put forth his stance.

Subsequently, Satnam (23), former trainee of Ludhiana Basketball Academy, was ruled out for the 70th Senior National Basketball Championship, which was held in Ludhiana from December 21 to 28. He was provisionally suspended during the preparatory camp for the South Asian Games, held at Bengaluru, as prohibited substance was found in his urine test.

Punjab (men), the defending champions, fielded its squad sans this experienced player in this year’s national championship.

He visited the stadium on Saturday, the last day of this championship, to witness the two finals. He remained seated during the women’s final, played between the reigning champions — Indian Railways and Kerala — in which the former emerged winners and retained the title they won in the last edition of this championship at Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

Satnam also watched the final in the men’s section, wherein his colleagues, Punjab players, went all out to retain the title against Tamil Nadu. He was seen on his toes repeatedly to cheer for his team mates.

As Punjab emerged winners, Satnam turned emotional. He celebrated the victory. Satnam refused to reply to any query on this matter and remained busy enjoying the proceedings.

All guests, including Punjab Cabinet Ministers, Rana Gumit Singh Sodhi and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa besides Manish Tewari, Member of Parliament from Anandpur Sahib and former Union Minister who came to watch today’s matches, met this star player and wished him good luck for his future.

Govt will provide jobs to players: Rana Gurmit

The state government will provide jobs to players who bring repute to the state in the national as well as international-level tournaments, said Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, during the finals of the 70th Senior National Basketball Championship here on Saturday. He assured that cash prizes would also be given to them.