Real contenders emerge, fakes fade out

Indore, December 9, 2015: Pretenders were separated from real contenders as Rajasthan’s Mayur School, and North Bengal’s Siliguri Girls High School moved into the Senior Boys and Senior Girls semifinals of the 11Even Sports Inter-School National Table Tennis Championships, which was inaugurated at the Abhay Prashal here today.

The other teams that made the semifinals cut in Senior Boys included the ones from Gujarat, North Bengal and Maharashtra while teams from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Telangana joined the North Bengal in the Senior Girls semifinals.

For all these teams, including those who were knocked out of contest, it came as a new experience. The teams that exited in the early rounds, despite being the state champions, must have learnt a lesson or two from it.

The Manav Thakkar-Anukram Jain led Mayur School (Ajmer) team is, undoubtedly, the best on view here. Their experience and skills cannot be matched by the others in fray because of the exposure the two have had. The added advantage of the two boys are that they are the regulars on the national circuit and have, to their credit, two titles in the junior and sub-junior sections of the TTFI-conducted ranking events.

In fact, it was a foregone conclusion that Mayur School would emerge victorious. That is precisely what happened when its boys beat Karnataka’s Sri Kumaran Children’s Home 3-1 in the quarterfinals. No further elaboration is needed as the score-line is a clear indicator of a one-sided match. But the best match of the day turned out to be between Maharashtra’s Jaanbhai School and Telangana’s Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan Public School in which the former won 3-2 after some struggle. Though SFR Snehit won his first singles and also the doubles with B. Varunshnakar, both he and his partner lost their reverse singles to Varun Seth and Shaurya Pednekar.

Similarly, the top-seeded Siliguri Girls High Schools, too, had an easy outing against Maharashtra’s Father Agnel School in the quarterfinals. It was no surprise that they beat their opponents from 3-1 without a sweat.

In Junior Boys, school teams from North Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Rajasthan made it to the semifinals, while in Junior Girls category, teams from Karnataka, Maharashtra, North Bengal and Haryana have entered the last-four stage matches.

NB team expelled

Meanwhile, North Bengal’s Little Angels School was debarred from the championships for playing a non-regular student in their team. After verification of documents by the management committee, it was decided to expel the team. The team’s place in semifinals has been taken by Goa’s Loyala High School, which lost to the North Bengal team 2-3 in a tough quarterfinal battle.

Results:

Senior Boys: Quarterfinals: Mayur School (RAJ) bt Sri Kumaran Chilren’s Home (KNT) 3-1, Navrachna School (GUJ) bt Advanced Academy (MP) 3-1, Jamanbhai School (MHR) bt BVB Public
School (TELG) 3-2; Little Angels School (NB) bt Loyala High School (GOA) 3-2; Pre-quarterfinals: Mayur School (RAJ) w/o DPS (CG) 3-0, Sri Kumaran Children’s Home (KNT) bt Scholars Rosary School (HAR) 3-2, Advanced Academy (MP) bt St Xaviers School (JKD) 3-0, Navrachna School (GUJ) w/0 Little Angels School (AP) 3-0, Jamanbhai School (MHR) bt Ryan International (CHD) 3-1, BVB Public School (TELG) bt KV No. 2 DMW School (PUN) 3-0, Loyala High School (GOA) bt John Mittan Public School (UP) 3-1, Little Angels School (NB) bt Holy Cross School (BHR) 3-0.

Senior Girls: Quarterfinals: Siliguri Girls HS bt Fr. Agnel HS (MHR) 3-1, ML Kakadia Natl. School (GUJ) bt Sri Aurobindo School (KNT) 3-1, St Xavier’s SS (RAJ) bt DPS (MP) 3-1, Bhavan’s Sro Ramakrishna Vidayala (TELG) bt Khaitan Public School (UP) 3-0; Pre-quarterfinals: Siliguri Girls HS (NB) w/o Saraswat Vidyalaya (GOA) 3-0, Fr Agnel HS (MHR) bt St Joseph’s Anglo Indian HS (KRL) 3-0, Sri Autobindo Memorial school (KNT) bt Samvidha Vidyapeeth (AP)3-0, ML Kakadia Nat. School (GUJ) w/o DAV Gandhinagar (JKD) 3-0, St Xavier’s SSS (Raj) bt Shiv Shakti School (HRN) 3-0, DPS (MP) bt Chavara HS School 3-0, Khaitan Public School (UP) w/o Matha Metric HSS (TN) 3-0, Bhavan’s Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya(TELG) w/o KC Public School (J&K) 3-0.  

Junior Boys: Quarterfinals: Margaret English School (NB) bt Akshara School (AP) 3-1, SBOA (TN) bt DPS (UP) 3-1, Jamanbhai School (MHR) bt Shree GG Sutharia School (GUJ) 3-0, MAPS (Raj) bt DPS (HAR) 3-0; Pre-quarterfinals: Margaret English School (NB) w/o Bhavan SL Public School (PUN) 3-0, Akshara School (AP) bt Advance Academy (MP) 3-1, DPS (UP) bt Cherec Int. School (TELG) 3-1, SBOA (TN) bt Ryan International (CHD) 3-1, Jamanbhai School (MHR) b JDT Islam School (KRL) 3-0, Shree GG Sutharia School (GUJ) bt Sri Kumaran Children’s Home (KNT) 3-1, DPS (HAR) bt Sharda Mandir School (GOA) 3-1, MAPS (Raj) bt St Xavier’s School (CHG) 3-0.

Junior Girls: Quarterfinals: Jyoti Kendriya Vidhyalaya (KNT) bt Gurukul Global School (CHD) 3-1, Jamnabhai School (MHR) bt DPS (UP) 3-0, Jermels Academy (NB) bt SBOA (TN) 3-1, Scholars Rosary School (HAR) bt Shree GM Donda Primary School (GUJ) 3-0; Pre-quarterfinals: Jyoti Kendriya Vidhyalaya (KNT) w/o Govt. HS (RAJ) 3-0, Gurukul Global School (CHD) bt St Michael’s HS (BHR) 3-0, DPS (UP) bt GPS Fatehgarh Sahib (PUN) 3-1, Jamnabhai School MHR) bt St Mary’s UPS (KRL) 3-0, Jermels Academy (NB) bt Gitanjali evashray (TELG) 3-0, SBOA (TN) bt Central Public School (JKD) 3-0, Shree GM Donda Primary School (GUJ) bt Emerald High School (MP) 3-0, Scholars Rosary School (HAR) bt Brilliant Public School (CG) 3-0.