Indore, December 8: Rajasthan’s Mayur School, spearheaded by Manav Thakkar and Anukram Jain, looks like the team to beat in the first-ever 11Even Sports Inter-School National Table Tennis Championships, organized under the aegis of the Table Tennis Federation of India and beginning at the Abhay Prashal, from tomorrow.

The might of Mayur Public School, who became the state champions in senior boys’ section, is such that it could be the envy of the rest of teams out of 19 that are competing in the championships here. Manav Thakkar and Anukram Jain need no introduction as they have not only been regulars on the TTFI-conducted national ranking championships circuit, but winners of two titles each in the Junior and sub-junior sections, respectively, this season. The team had won the CBSE title at the recently-concluded championships at Meerut.

Understandably, the team has been accorded top seeding while it is followed by North Bengal, who leads his team, Little Angels School, and Maharashtra’s Father Agnel High School at No. 3, purely on the power of Shaurya Pednear. The No. 4 seeding has rightfully taken by Gujarat’s Navrachana School (Vadodara), thanks to the presence of Manush Shah, the sub-junior title winner at Jamnagar during the Central Zone championships.

As for the senior girls, North Bengal’s Siliguri Girls High School has been given the pride of place with Nikita Sarkar and Diksha Biswas shouldering the responsibility. Nikita was the sub-junior finalist in the South Zone at Chennai and a semifinalist at the East Zone event at Guwahati. Diskha, on the other hand, had made it to the quarterfinals of three national ranking tournaments this season.

Priyanka Pareek, who narrowly lost the Youth semifinal at Jamangar and Junior final at Delhi during the North Zone championships will have Chavi Singh for company from St Xavier’s Senior Secondary school, which is seeded second. The duo will take inspiration from their counterparts in senior boys’ category to upstage North Bengal. But the twin sisters V. Sasya and V Lasya, representing Telangana’s Bhavan’s Sri Ramakrishan Vidyalaya, the regulars on the national circuit, are capable of beating the best in business and hence the top two teams will be wary of the No. 3 seeds. Gujarat’s ML Kakadia’s National School (Bhavnagar) has been seeded No.4 with Fagun Bhatt leading the charge.

In the Junior Boys, it could be a three-way contest with teams from Rajasthan (MPAS Ajmer), North Bengal (Margaret (SN) English School and Maharashtra (Jamanbhai School) being the most prominent to win the national title. If North Bengal has Jayabrata Bhattacharjee, Rajasthan has Aradhya Sharma and Mohammad Jubir Khan and Maharashtra will look up to Maanav Mehta and Dev Shroff to complete the job.

But what is intriguing is the Junior Girls section that has the likes of Anargya Manjunath (Karnataka), Suahana Saini (Haryana), Sattaporni De (North Bengal), Vidhi Shah and Mihika Rohita (Maharashtra). Karantaka’s Jyothi Kendriya Vidyalaya is the top-seeded team and it is followed in seeding by Scholars Rosary School, Jermels Academy and Jamanbhai School.

But hazarding a guess about the winners can be tricky. Each one of them, on their individual capacity can win it for their respective teams, as they all have proved by becoming state champions. However, with the format allowing four singles and one doubles all these girls may have to carry on the extra burden and pitch in for their weak partners.

All said and done, the first such venture has generated an all-round enthusiasm, particularly among the school children, who have been given such a huge platform to showcase their skill and talent. All of them are aware that a noteworthy performance here will provide the passport to stardom, apart from making them an instant hit in their school back home.

Additionally, they will also draw the attention of the TTFI, under whose supervision the championships—both at the state and national levels—are being conducted. Though it is only a team championships event, the individuals’ showing will have a bearing when it comes to winning the four titles on offer.

According to Competition Manager Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer, Stiga equipment will be used for the two-day championships with A.S. Kler as the chief referee and Anil Dubey as his deputy. They will have the support of national umpires, drawn from Madhya Pradesh Table Tennis Association, who are playing hosts for the championships.