Indore, May 29:  Now that the girls have vacated the Abhay Prashal Hall after their engagements, it is time for the Youth Boys in Under-11, 13 and 15 to jump into the fray and step up the heat in the 83rd Cadet & Sub-Junior Nationals beginning tomorrow, after a day’s break in the table tennis activities today.

At least in two sections, Under-11 and Under-13, of the boys' singles, none of the 323 entrants will get any direct seeding as all of them will have been divided into groups to play the round-robin league games to make the main draw cut. One in each of the 32 and 64 groups, respectively, will make the grade and enter the second stage knockout.

Hence, it is imperative for all those paddlers representing respective states to put their best foot forward and come up with decent performances to occupy the top group places. Those in the two categories should consider themselves luckier than the others that have missed the bus and showcase their talent. A place in the main draw would be their first aim before priming up for the ultimate glory—the national titles.

With the national selectors already around and keeping a hawk eye, their performance will form the dossier for future selection of the national squads.

A look at the bunch of players in various groups reveals several promising padders from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. But there could be a few others who can make the seeding topsy-turvy on the match day, as it happened in the Under-15 girls.

But the biggest attraction of the Nationals for all states will be to see who among the Under-15 Youth Boys lifts the trophy. Of the 217 entries in this category, eight boys will get into the main draw directly, thanks to their higher ranking. But the remaining will come from the 56 groups.

The qualification processes in the three sections will continue into the second day of the Nationals as only two rounds each will be tomorrow. The second stage of the draw will begin in the evening on the second day. All the finals have been scheduled for the last day.  

With a hectic schedule on the first two days, the competition department of the TTFI will use 20 tables to complete the matches and the GK and Stag balls.

Veteran Anil Dubey will continue as the referee for the championship and he will have the support of his deputy, Mangesh Mopkar, 40 Blue Badge, international and national umpires drawn from different states of the country, said competition manager N. Ganeshan.