TN boys, girls confirm Cadet TT main draw berths

Defending champions Tamil Nadu stamped their authority yet again to take the top perch in the first stage of the cadet girls section as they posted authentic 3-0 wins over Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry in group A of the 78th sports cadet and sub-junior National Table Tennis Championships here on Thursday.

Karnataka in group B and Haryana in group C, too, followed Tamil Nadu to seal their main draw place while the picture in remaining five groups will be clear after the third round which is slated for Friday at the at the SMC Indoor Stadium.

Tamil Nadu's cadet boys, too, kept their slate clean to book their second stage berth beating Goa 3-1 and accounting for Rajasthan 3-0 from group A.

Delhi, who were given the top place in group B, lost their match 1-3 to PSPB Academy and push the academy boys up the ladder. But Delhi's 3-0 win against Tripura should help them seal the second slot from the group and the main draw entry.

But after one round of matches in both the sub-junior boys and girls categories, the trend seemed to be very much in favour of group leaders as they have registered easy wins. However, the only aberration was Gujarat who, in their first outing against Haryana, faced a 1-3 shock defeat for the first upset.

The Tamil Nadu cadet girls' team, led by Kavyashree Baskar, found an easy meat in their neighbouring Pondicherry in a first-round clash.

Tina Cathrin Das opened their account with a flowing 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 win over Sastha Chandraleha while Kavyashree made it 2-0 with a 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 victory against J. Isshani. Then the two Tamil Nadu girls combined to outwit Sastha and R. Shriya 11-4, 11-9, 11-6.

In their second round match, another neighbour Andhra Pradesh folded without a fight as Tina outplayed Shresta Bdda 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 before Kavyashree accounting for Charvi Phalgun 11-4, 11-1, 11-3.A

In the doubles, the Andhra pair of Shresta and Charvi was no match for the rampaging Tina and Kavyashree as the duo won 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 to advance.

--IANS

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