The Cadet Boys of top-seeded Tamil Nadu and second-seeded Karnataka may have an easy pre-quarterfinal outing but they will have to overcome the quarterfinal hurdle of Maharashtra A and West Bengal if they nurture any ambition of progressing further in the 11Sports 79th Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals at the SP Mukherjee Stadium here today.

Tamil Nadu will first meet Uttarakhand while Karnataka will take on Maharashtra B in the pre-quarterfinals.  Once they win their matches, they could well be on course to the final as it will be difficult for the rest of teams that made it to the knockout stages to stop them. The top half has teams like Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, North Bengal and Goa other than the teams cited.

The bottom half draw has teams like Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Telangana, PSPBA and Uttar Pradesh. The most awaited battles could be between Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra A in the top-half while Karnataka could find it a bit tough against West Bengal.

Similarly, top-seed Delhi will have to cross the stumbling block of Haryana in Cadet Girls pre-quarters. For second-seed West Bengal, it looks all clear until the semi-final stage where they could run into Karnataka. One expects Tamil Nadu to meet Maharashtra A in the last-four stages.