Siliguri, December 1: Holders Tamil Nadu stamped their authority yet again to take the top perch in the first stage of the Cadet Girls section as they posted an authentic 3-0 wins over Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry in group A of the 78th 11Even Sports Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the SMC Indoor Stadium here today.

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 tomorrow.

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 of Titans versus Lilliput. 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 neighbor Andhra Pradesh folded without a fight as Tina Cathrin outplayed Shresta Bdda 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 before Kavyashree accounting for Charvi Phalgun 11-4, 11-1, 11-3. In the customary 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 earn their Stage 2 entry.

On the other hand, the TN boys had it rather easy against Rajasthan it was a bit of struggle versus Goa as Preyesh Suresh Raj put their side1-0 up when he beat Nagesh Verenker 13-15, 11-6, 11-8, 11-2. But Tharun Shanmugam lost his rubber 9-11, 5-11, 7-11 to Shantesh Mapsekar. Yet, the Tamil Nadu pair steadied their ship going up 2-1 in their doubles but not before Nagesh and Shantesh gave a real scare when they took the first two games. But Preyesh and Tharun managed to bring themselves back in the rubber to win 7-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-4. In reverse singles, Preyesh beat Shantesh 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.

Talking on the upset of the day, Haryana’s Anjali Rohilla and Suhana Saini upstaged group H leaders Gujarat in a surprise first-round outing. Anjali easily beat Sanskruti Malpani 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 while Suhana made it 2-0 with a 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 victory over Kausha Bhairapure. However, the Haryana pair lost their doubles to the Gujarati duo 6-11, 11-8,9-11, 11-13. Luckily, in her reverse singles, Suhana accounted for Sanskruti 14-12, 11-2, 6-11, 11-8 to, more or less, ensure the top group slot and also the second stage berth.