Ajmer, December 24: The stage one group matches had the usual mismatches with the known teams making easy forays at the end of two rounds in all sections of the ONGC Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the MC Chowhan Indoor Stadium today.

. Indeed, there were a few surprises in the form of better-known teams being extended by the lesser ones but, by no stretch of imagination, did the latter cause any upset. In the Sub-Junior Boys, Andhra Pradesh managed a 3-1 win over Maharashtra A, while North Bengal struggled to beat Maharashtra B 3-2 in round two.

PSPB Academy almost ensured a place in the main draw by winning both their matches against Goa and Chandigarh with 3-0 verdicts. Similarly, Andhra notched their 3-0 win against Jammu and Kashmir to be at the doorstep of the main draw. Delhi, who trounced Himachal 3-0, suffered a 0-3 loss to West Bengal. Hosts Rajasthan defeated Sikkim 3-0 in the second round but lost 1-3 to Uttar Pradesh. UP are also closing in on their qualification with a match at hand.

In Sub-Junior Girls, Rajasthan had a bright start to beat Gujarat 3-1 in the first round, with Bhuvaneshwari and Priyanka Pareek doing the star turn for the hosts. After Priyanka won her singles, Bhuvaneshwari lost to Arushi Nandwani in a stretched rubber. But Bhuvaneshwar combined well with Priyanka Pareek to beat the Gujarat duo Fagun Bhatt and Abhija Desai 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 to go 2-0 up. Then Priyanka completed the formality with a straight sets win against Arushi.

In the Cadet Girls section, Haryana rattled Tamil Nadu with a 3-2 verdict in the first round in group E. With Suhana Saini and Trisha Pal, playing well, they provided a runaway lead of 2-0 for Haryana. However, Suhana and Anjali Rohilla lost their doubles to Vaishnavi and Sharmitha, which put pressure on Suhana who lost her reverse singles to Sharmitha 5-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11. But Trisha Pal restored Haryana’s pride by beating Vaishnavi 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 to win 3-2.

In Cadet Boys section, teams went through their motion during the group matches without much to write home about.