Vijayawada, September 7: Manjunath Anargaya, the winner of North Zone title at Punchkula in her first season, was caught on the wrong foot somewhat before booking her berth in the pre-quarterfinals of the 11Sports National Ranking (South Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the DRM Municipal Indoor Hall here today.

The top-seeded girl from Karnataka, despite enjoying the first-round bye, was taken the full distance by her Telengana rival Bhaavitha Nagulapalli before Anargya won 11-6, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Anargaya began well taking the first game rather easily, giving a glimpse of her Panchkula form. But credit must be given to the Telangana girl who did a fantastic job to stop her short of two points in the second to level and then go up with a better performance in the third.

Obviously under pressure, the Karnataka girl had to steady herself and minimize the errors, particularly at the net, to level score. With her confidence restored, Anargaya launched herself into attack and subdued whatever resistance came from the Telengana girl.

In a match-up between two qualifiers, West Bengal’s Sneha Bowmick emerged victorious after Delhi’s Kaashvi Gupta stretched her fully. In the see-saw battle where fortunes fluctuated with every game, Sneha clinched it in the decider to win 11-8, 11-13, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9 to get her breath back.

Another Delhi girl and fourth-seed Tamanna Gulshan struggled a bit before overcoming her West Bengal rival Sucheta Prosad as the former won 11-4, 6-11, 11-9, 14-12 in the round of 32. For Haryana’s Suhana Saini, it was business as usual when she accounted for Telangana’s Ikshitha Koride in straight games of 11-5, 11-4, 11-8

As many as 16 first-round byes were offered, including to eight top-ranked players, and 40 group winners joined them in the knockout stage draw of 64. In comparison, 52 group winners joined the eight higher ranked players with only the top four enjoying first-round byes.  

Sub Junior Girls (First Round): Nagulapalli Bhaavith (TELG) bt D.Akanksha (ASM) 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 15-13, 17-15; Ananya Chhande (NHR-B) 16-14, 11-6, 13-11; Sohana Paul (WB) bt S.Gayatri (DLI) 11-8, 15-13, 11-8; Kaashvi Gupta (DLI) bt Vartica Bharat (UP) 12-10, 6-111, 12-10, 11-8; Arya Songadkar (MHR-A) bt Ajmal Sait Fartha (KNT) 11-8, 11-4, 12-10; Nilishma Sarkar (WB) bt Aafrien Murd (GUJ) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7; Reeva Anna Michel (KRL) bt Preksha Karkera (KNT) 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 6-11, 11-3; Chayasingdha Nath (ASM) bt Namma Jaiswal (GUJ) 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 14-12; Priyadharshin Arulraj (TN) bt Sabdita Jha (DLI) 9-11, 15-13, 11-6, 11-8; Taneesha Kotecha (MHR-A) bt Shreya Shiva Kumar (TFIWC) 11-3, 11-9, 11-9; Ikshitha Koride (TELG) bt Mukta Dalvi (MHR-B) 11-7, 11-1, 5-11, 15-13; Suriya Venkatasamy (TFIWC) bt  Tanushree Bose (NB) 5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7; RAIKHELKAR Mrunmayee (MHR B) bt   Lakshithi Kannabiran (TN) 12-10, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5; Pritha Vartikar (MHR-A) bt B.Shreshtha (AP) 11-3, 11-2, 11-7; Dass Cathrin Tina (TFIWC) bt Pranati Nair (KRL) 11-9, 11-8, 11-1; Oishiki Jordar (WB) bt Kashyapi Dutta (ASM) 3-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5.

Sub Junior Boys (First Round): Roopan santhoesh (TN) bt Rajveer Shah (MHR-B) 10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9; Jay Gadiya Lalit Kumar (TN) bt Devansh Mudgal (PSPB-A) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9; Burha Malubhawala (GUJ) bt Gautham Malligarjunan (PON) 11-1, 11-6, 11-5; Amir Afthab (KRL) bt Rounak Tiwari (NB) 11-8, 11-5, 11-7; Sameehan Kulkarni (MHR-B) bt Nagesh Verenker (GOA) 11-2, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7; Swamava Saha (WB) bt Akshat Tyagi (UP) 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10; Raunak  Roy (WB) bt Samyak Kashyap (KNT) 7-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7; Karthikeyan Kamaraj (TN) bt Amav Aggarwal (CHD) 8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7; Gaurav Panchangam (MHR-B) bt Aaradya Sarma (PSPB-A) 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6; Shivam Chandra (UP) Rudra narayan Ghosh (WB) 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 12-10; Anju Mahipal (TN) bt Shreyangshu sen (NB) 11-5, 11-13, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7; Dhruv Das (MHR-A) bt Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) 11-7, 12-10, 11-13, 7-11, 11-9; Prathan Madlani (GUJ) bt Amish Athwale (MHR-A) 12-10, 5-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-2; Sujan Bhardwaj (KNT) bt Raghuram Prakasham (TN) 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6; Trjas Narang (DLI) bt Havish Asrani (MHR-A) 8-11, 11-2, 5-11, 13-11, 12-10.