NORTHERN SPARTANS FROM AMRITSAR TRIUMPH IN THE FIRST EVER INDIA FINALS OF RED BULL REIGN- A UNIQUE GLOBAL 3 ON 3 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

• The short action-packed format set to revolutionize basketball in India
• The National Finals winners get a chance to represent India at the World Finals in Canada later this year
• The World’s only open international 3 on 3 basketball tournament

Chennai, 10^th June 2019: Indian Gymkhana, Matunga in Mumbai hosted the first ever India Finals of Red Bull Reign- a unique global 3 on 3 basketball tournament on 8^th June 2019. With 16 teams (the winners of the respective 12 city qualifiers and 4 wildcard teams) the national finals witnessed high paced basketball across 39 matches.The semi-final clash saw some high intensity action where Northern Spartans, Amritsar beat Tune Squad, Delhi & Chandigarh 21-14 and Drop Step from Goa beat Income Tax from Ahmedabad 16-14 to make it to the finals. In a tightly contested final, it was Northern Spartans from Amritsar that were crowned the first ever Red Bull Reign National Finals winners after beating Team Dropstep from Goa 17-11. Northern Spartans from Amritsar will now get the glorious opportunity of travelling to Toronto, Canada and representing the nation at the World Finals later this year.

 

The National Finals of Red Bull Reign saw some star players that have represented the country at various levels. Players like Amritpal Singh (former India senior team’s captain and a regular member of the Indian basketball team), Arshpreet Singh (Current member of India’s 3x3 basketball team), LalrinaRenthelei (Captain of the Bangalore 3BL team representing India at the FIBA 3x3 Hyderabad Masters 2018), Dhruv Barman (number 1 ranked 3x3 player in the country) SowkinShetty(Part of the Bangalore 3BL team representing India at the FIBA 3x3 Hyderabad Masters 2018), Pratyanshu Tomar(One of the Top performers for India at the FIBA U-18 Asian Championship in Thailand and part of the Indian Senior national team at the age of 18) and Vinay Kaushik (Part of the Indian team that beat China in 2014 and 2016) added to the star power of the National Finals.

The daughter of popular Bollywood movie star Jackie Shroff, Krishna Shroff, who works as a documentary maker and basketball coach was also present at the national finals of Red Bull Reign at Indian Gymkhana Matunga in Mumbai.

Red Bull Reign uses a unique set of rules based on the gameplay of the FIBA rules. Below are the FIBA 3-on-3 rules:

·         Half-court game

·         Each team shall consist of 4 players (3 players on the court and 1 substitution)

·         The first team which scores 21 points or more wins the game if it happens before the end of regular playing time.

National Finals Results:

The tournament followed the round robin format and the teams were initially divided into 4 groups i.e. Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 and Group 4.

Group 1:

Rank	Team	Total Points	Reign Score
1	Northern Spartans, Amritsar	51	21
2	Excellence, Chennai	39	10
3	Clutch, Bangalore	35	5
4	Loyala, Hyderabad	27	3

Group 2:

Rank	Team	Total Points	Reign Score
1	Income Tax, Ahmedabad	39	21
2	Customs, Pune	37	10
3	Singh, Mumbai	34	5
4	Sports U, Ludhiana	24	0

Group 3:

Rank	Team	Total Points	Reign Score
1	Drop Step, Goa	39	16
2	Phoenix, Chennai	27	10
3	NFR, Guwahati	26	10
4	Punjab Warriors, Ludhiana	19	0

Group 4:

Rank	Team	Total Points	Reign Score
1	Tune Squad, Delhi and Chandigarh	44	16
2	Income Tax A, Delhi	30	10
3	Ekalavya Society, Jaipur	37	10
4	BBQ Chicken, Aizawl	20	0

The top 2 teams of the 4 groups were further divided into two groups, Group 1 and Group 2.

Group 1:

Rank	Team	Total Points	Reign Score
1	Northern Spartans, Amritsar	53	21
2	Income Tax, Ahmedabad	35	5
3	Excellence, Chennai	35	5
4	Customs, Pune	33	5

Group 2:

Rank	Team	Total Points	Reign Score
1	Drop Step, Goa	40	11
2	Tune Squad, Delhi and Chandigarh	32	10
3	Income Tax, Delhi	39	10
4	Phoenix, Chennai	26	5

Semi Finals:

The top two teams from Group 1 and Group 2 faced each other in the semifinals.

Northern Spartans from Amritsar beat Tune Squad from Delhi and Chandigarh 21-14in first semi finals

Drop Step from Goa beat Income Tax from Ahmedabad 16-14 in second semi finals

Finals:

Northern Spartans from Amritsar beat Drop Step Goa in the finals to be crowned the first ever Red Bull Reign National Champions.

Winning team Members:Amritpal Singh, Arshpreet Singh Bhullar, Rajvir Singh & Israel Fernando

Amritpal Singh from Northern Spartans, the national champions of Red Bull Reign 2019 said,“We are elated to be the first India Champions of Red Bull Reign. Energy drink Giant Red Bull is doing a great job in promoting 3x3 basketball in the country and it is definitely giving wings to young basketball players to participate and showcase their talent. Tournaments like Red Bull Reign will help to redefine the future of 3x3 basketball in our country. We look forward to travel to Canada and compete against top teams across the world. We hope we make our country proud”

Rakesh Singh of Team Singh, Mumbai City champions of Red Bull Reign said “We are so elated to be the Mumbai Champions of this fast paced 3v3 basketball tournament organized by energy drink giant Red Bull and we got a chance to play against the top teams across the country for national champion trophy. Street Ball is life.”

With this initiative, energy drink giant Red Bull aims to create a new fan base for basketball in India by promoting basketball at a grassroots level and through wider outreach plans for both viewers and players. Also, Red Bull Reign is the World’s only open international 3 on 3 basketball tournament.Red Bull brought on-board Pursuit India as a partner to manage tournament operations across the country. Pursuit India is a leading sports management company in the sport of Basketball in India

For more information, visit https://www.redbull.com/in-en/events/red-bull-reign-india