Chennai: Former India captain Jayasankar Menon, who recently organised a 3 on 3 basketball carnival 'PBA-Sam Paul Challenge', reckons that the entertaining shorter version is the way forward to revamp the hoop game in the state.
It's always a nice feeling whenever your pet pro ject takes off without any hassle. The fact that the inaugural 3 on 3 challenge attracted more than 150 teams from various parts of the state comes as a great satisfaction and the good turnout also underlines the growing popularity of the format. From a 10-year-old to septuagenarian, Mathew Satyababu -former India skipper participated in the Masters category -3 on 3 seems to have fascinated all age groups. Even though the dates were clashing with schools exams, the interschool category had encouraging number of entries.
Not just the regular college and institutional players, the event drew a Masters team from Tirunelveli led by former state player Mohan and not to be left behind were former women internationals such as Sally Thomas, Reneesa Rawoof and Bindhu Koroth who also jumped on to the bandwagon. It was good to see corporate teams such as Wipro and TCS who are actively involved in cricket showing interest in basketball. It goes without saying that corporate involvement is key to the development of any sport.
Apart from the players, the fans also had a whale of a time. The live music and DJ made it a carnival atmosphere and that has been the USP of this format across the world. This shorter version has already earned a slew of medals for India at Asian level and it promises more. As a former player, I strongly believe that 3 on 3 is a great concept.
It gives an opportunity for the entire squad (four players) to perform unlike the regular game where three or four players invariably are left to warm the bench. They hardly get a chance to get on to the floor unless it's a lopsided contest and Indian coaches do not seem to like the concept of rotating substitutes at regular intervals.
The format helps a player to develop his all-round skills as one has to play in all the positions. The fast-paced game demands water-tight defence with no room for errors. The time killing strategies like 'stalling' can't be applied and players have to be on their toes throughout the game.
As basketball in Tamil Nadu is almost in defunct with various factions fighting for power, the 3 on 3 format can help rekindle the interest in a state which has a rich history in organising events as well as producing players. Apart from the urban areas, the game used to be a rage even in places such as Tuticorin, Rajapalayam, Sivakasi and Karur. It's time the people at the helm sorted out their issues amicably and worked towards promoting the game.
I feel the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu should intervene.
Basketball still has a lot of followers and potential in the state.
