Players of Bihar (in white) and Tripura (in yellow) in action during the inaugural match of the 40th National Basketball Championship (sub-junior boys and girls) at Patliputra Sports Complex organised by the Basketball Federation of India in association with the Basketball Association of Bihar on Sunday. Madhuresh Kumar, general manager, East Central Railway, inaugurated the championship. Two other matches were also held on Sunday — between the boys’ teams of Maharashtra and Jharkhand and girls’ teams of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Twenty-four boys’ teams and 21 girls’ teams are participating in the eight-day championship. Teams from states, including Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharasthra and Bengal, are taking part in the championship. Text by Shuchismita Chakraborty, picture by Jai Prakash