KATHMANDU: Hosts The Excelsior School made a winning start in the 11th Excelsior Cup Basketball Tournament that kicked off on Wednesday at its court in Swayambhu.

Excelsior defeated Whitefield 27-11 in the senior boys’ category riding on 12 points by Chiring Gurung. Sanskriti defeated Pushpasadan 22-20, Valley View beat Holy Vision 34-26 and Radiant Public saw off New Zenith 43-19. Sanskriti’s Pranjan Sharma scored 9 points, Valley View’s Ganesh Bahadur Bisht scored 15, and Radiant’s Suprit Lamichhane scored 11 points.

In the senior girls’ basketball, RIBS defeated Nisargh Vatika 24-1, while Landmark Academy earned a comprehensive 21-5 victory over Excelsior 21-5. Ribs’ Supriya Mall scored 9 points, and Landmark’s Pratiksha Rai scored 11 points.

Boys’ Futsal

In the U-14 boys’ futsal, Excelsior registered a dominant 7-1 victory over Kavya. Excelsior’s Krish Ekle scored 4 goals, while Sahil, Nixon, and Ayan each scored 1 goal. Kavya’s Prayush Dahal scored the only goal for his team.

In U-16 boys’ event, Nisargh Vatika defeated Excelsior 2-0. Nisargh’s Sadishandhvaj and Aksin Das scored a goal each. In another game, Nisargh played to a 2-2 draw with Bodhisattva.

In U-11 boys’ event, Kavya defeated Sanskriti 2-0. Kavya’s Rehan Shrestha scored both goals. Valley View and Swastishree Gurukul settled for a goalless draw.

Altogether 16 teams are participating in the senior boys’ basketball while 12 teams are competing in the senior girls’ basketball.

Deepak Lama, the member secretary of Bagmati Province Sports Development Council, inaugurated the event.