Chennai, February 12: Having completed the events in Youth Girls, it's time for the Youth Boys to hog the limelight in the UTT 84th edition of the Inter-State Youth and Junior National Championships, beginning at the Nehru Indoor Stadium tomorrow.

After missing the team events for two years, 27 teams in the fray would believe that the championships have provided a fair chance to have a shot at the title. With only two teams eligible to make the grade in the second-stage knockout, one would witness the push and shove coming from the last three groups, having four teams each.

A cursory look at the open draw, based on the rankings of the top three players of each team, West Bengal has been placed atop of Group A, followed by UP, Delhi, Maharashtra, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Karnataka in the remaining seven groups.

Just not on paper, but the Bengal players look rock solid and start as the favourites for the team crown, thanks to the form of Ankur Bhattacharjee and Soumyadeep Sarkar. The two will undoubtedly have the support of Praneet Bhaskar and Bodhisatwa Chaudhury, but the former two may have to share the extra burden of seeing their squad through at every stage.

However, there are able challengers in Delhi, led by Payas Jain, the highest ranked Indian in the world at No. 16 in U-19 Youth Boys, and Aadarsh Om Chhetri, and a good combination from Tamil Nadu that has Varun Ganesh, P.B. Abhinand and Preyesh Raj Suresh, besides Tharun Shanmugam. Telangana will largely depend on Kesavan Kannan and Jatin Dev, and their qualification to the next stage looks almost certain.

Maharashtra has an able bunch in Jash Modi, Kushal Chopda, Neil Mulye and Aadi Chitnis. The state will rely on Jash and Kushal to elevate their position. Uttar Pradesh has two competitive players-- Divyansh Srivastava and Sarth Mishra--who would be willing the carry their state's burden on their shoulders. But the dark horse would be Manipur, seeded No. 5. Tall Khelendrajit Yengkhom and Kshetrima Segal can give completely a new twist to the script with their attacking approach from what they displayed during the Vadadora and Surat National Ranking Championships recently.

But the dark horse could be Manipur, seeded No. 5. Tall Khelendrajit Yengkhom and Kshetrima Segal can give an unexpected twist to the script with their attacking approach from what they displayed during the Vadadora and Surat National Ranking Championships recently. All the top teams and their members would be wary of this ground reality.

All these permutations and combinations, besides the surprises, would make the team championships battle fierce, keeping the interests of spectators and fans of their teams.  The Groupings:

Group 1: West Bengal, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh.

Group 2: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Daman & Diu.

Group 3: Delhi, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh.

Group 4: Maharashtra, Punjab, Jharkhand.

Group 5: Manipur, Haryana, Bihar.

Group 6: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand.

Group 7: Assam, Telangana, Pondicherry, Jammu and Kashmir.

Group 8: Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa, Rajasthan.