New Delhi, March 16 – The North Zone claimed the JK Bose Inter-Zonal T20 Cricket Trophy without losing a single game throughout the tournament. Meanwhile, the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM-1) won the AC Bali Table Tennis Tournament team title at the Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) National Convention's Golden Jubilee celebrations in New Delhi on Monday.
The North Zone secured the cricket title with a dominant 10-wicket victory over the East Zone at the Roshanara Cricket Ground. Opener Rishabh Singh scored an unbeaten 87 off 40 balls, and captain Akash Rawal finished unbeaten on 31, helping the North Zone overhaul East Zone's 135/6 in just 9.5 overs.
Rishabh Singh finished as the tournament's leading run-scorer with 289 runs. While the East Zone posted a competitive total thanks to Pranab Shil's explosive 47 not out off 23 balls and an unbeaten 39 from captain Abhishek, the North Zone's batsmen easily chased down the target.
In the other cricket fixture at the Delhi Police Ground, West Zone dismissed South Zone for 97 in 18.5 overs, with Deep Sudhakar taking 4-13 and Taus Rizvi claiming 3-13. West Zone then cruised to victory without losing a wicket in 13 overs, with Rizvi contributing an unbeaten 53 and Devendra Pandey remaining not out on 36.
At the Roshanara Club, SJAM-1's Amol Karhadkar and Ashwin Ferro defeated the Delhi Sports Journalists Association's (DSJA-1) trio of Bharat Sharma, Kushan Sarkar, and Norris Pritam to claim the team championship title.
Karhadkar also dominated the individual events, winning the men's singles title ahead of Keerthi from the Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists Association, before combining with Ferro to win the men's doubles, with the DSJA pair of Sarkar and Sharma finishing as runners-up.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru emerged champions in the basketball competition, with Indore finishing as runners-up. In the futsal (freekick) event, the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai-2 (SJAM-2) were crowned champions, while the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai-1 (SJAM-1) finished as runners-up.
Brief scores:
South Zone 97 all out in 18.5 overs (VL Sashank 34; Deep Sudhakar 4-13, Taus Rizvi 3-13) lost to West Zone 98 for no loss in 13 overs (Taus Rizvi 53 not out, Devendra Pandey 36 not out) by 10 wickets.
East Zone 135/6 in 20 overs (Pranab Shil 47 not out, Abhishek 39 not out) lost to North Zone 136/0 in 9.5 overs (Rishabh Singh 87 not out, Akash Rawal 31 not out) by 10 wickets, and won the title.