Indore, March 8: With the main actors staying off stage, the players in 40 groups in both sections had a field day in the UTT 82nd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships, which got underway at the Abhay Prashal here.

Yet, a few of them showed wear and tear in their group matches, struggling to keep their qualification chances intact. But by and large, most other players went through the motions with increased probabilities.

In the Junior Boys, Swayam Ibrampurkar from Maharashtra showed courage and character to fight back and post a 3-2 win over Naman Sharma of Rajasthan. The boy from Maharashtra was down 0-2, but his morale was never low. Changing his strategy, he relaunched himself into the match. His attacking game proved a success as the Rajasthan boy wilted under pressure.

Ansh Goyal of Madhya Pradesh gathered himself up nicely after losing the first game to go 2-1 up. Even though he dropped the fourth game to TTFI wildcard entrant, P.Yeshwanth, he was careful not to goof up the chance in the decider to win 3-2.  His statemate Anuj Soni was stuck in a similar position in the match against Gautam Bhargo of Punjab. But he fought well in the second and third and won them on extended points. Despite losing the next very closely, he ensured a quick wrap-up of the crucial fifth game to register a 3-2 triumph.

Santosh Peetam of Odisha fought well to win the extended opening game before losing the second and third consecutively. However, Pranay Chawan from Chhattisgarh failed to capitalize and let Santosh rally and take the last two games. Harshul Kweera from Uttarakhand beat Ishan Kapoor of Chandigarh 3-2 in the Junior Boys.

He, however, could not repeat the performance against Rohan Lalwani from Chhattisgarh in the Youth Boys section. The Uttarakhand lad kept his chances alive after winning the third and fourth games. In the decider, Rohan beat him by a mile. Shriram Kannan (TTFI) had a tough beginning against Rakshit Mohala of Punjab to lose the first two games 15-13, 9-11. From that position, Shriram played a measured game to outwit his Punjab opponent. It was, more or less, the case with other Youth Boys winners.

The seedings of  Youth Boys and Junior Boys will take place in the presence of the players tomorrow morning.

Important Results:

Junior Boys (Round 1): Raghuraam Prakasham (TNTTA) bt Arvind Choudhary (UP) 11-6, 10-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, Santosh Preetam (Odi) bt Pranay Chawhan (Chhat) 13-11, 12-14, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8, Ansh Goyal (MP) bt P. Yeshwanth (TTFI) 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9, Anuj Soni (MP) bt Gautam Bhargo (Pun) 4-11, 13-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, Harshul Kweera (Ukd) bt Ishan Kapoor (Chd) 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 9-11, 11-13, Swayam Ibrampurkar (Mah) bt Naman Sharma (Raj) 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5.

Youth Boys (Round 1): Pawan Singh (Chd) bt Avinash Chandaka (AP) 11-6, 5-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-6, Naman Bhatnagar (HP) bt Saksham Verma (J&K) 11-13, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, J.R. Sri Sai (TTFI) bt G. Omprakash (Odi) 7-12, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4, 11-3, Rohan Lalwani (Chhat) bt Harshul Kweera (Ukd) 11-7, 11-9, 3-11, 9-11, 11-7, Nikhil Kumar (Pun) bt M. Eshwar Rao (Odi) 13-15, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3, Shriram Kannan (TTFI) bt Rakshit Mohala (Pun) 13-15, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9.