Siliguri: With the individual events having begun today following the team finals yesterday, the point of interest for the boys and girls will be to first qualify for the main draw and gain supremacy over their regular rivals in the ongoing 11Even Sports 78th Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals underway at the SMC Stadium.
But most importantly, the top players that have had a well-deserved rest from the hustle-bustle of group matches on the day were gunning for the coveted singles title that will pitchfork them on the national scene with selectors watching the proceedings. After a day’s rest today, they will jump into the fray tomorrow when the main draw events begin.
Despite Delhi’s Payas Jain and Chinmay Somiya of PSPBA having 255 points each after the completion of all five zonal matches, the Delhi lad was accorded the pride of place as he has been seeded No. 1 while Chinmay follows him in the second spot.
The third place has gone to Yashansh Malik, also of Delhi, and who with a sole title win in the East Zone championships at Aizawl has 240 points to his credit and is followed by PSPB Academy’s Jeho, who lost in the final there. Incidentally, it was Yashansh who helped Delhi win their maiden title ion the Sub-Junior Boys section yesterday.
Anusha Kutamble of Madhya Pradesh leads the seeding chart in Sub-Junior Girls with 345 points, thanks to her three out of five titles in the just-concluded zonals. Swastika Ghosh, who had a lone title from her South Zone participation, has been seeded No 2, though she is 120 points behind the leader. Delhi’s Vanshika Bhargava, just five points behind the Maharashtra girl, is at No. 4 while Tanisi Kirtani of Goa is at No. 3.
All the four players are capable of toppling each other on a given day and thoroughly deserve the seeding as being the top contenders for the singles title here.
Without a doubt, Tamil Nadu’s Preyesh Suresh Raj, who was the winner of all five zonal events this season with the maximum of 450 points, is the top seed in Cadet Boys and his team mate Tharun Shanmugam—a three-time finalist—follows him at No. 2 with 255 points. The third seeding has gone to Jash Modi, the little boy from Maharashtra with a lot of promise with 180 points. He has got the seeding purely on the basis of his consistency, though he had made it to the final once only during the Central Zone championships at Indore. Rudra Narayan Ghosh of West Bengal is seeded at No. 4 for the nationals here.
Another Tamil Nadu paddler, Kavyashree Baskar’s three crowns this season, has placed on top with 375 points and, accordingly has been seeded No. 1, while the Haryana girl, Suhana Saini, who in all finals with two titles Cadet Girls to her credit, had also finished with 360 to be seeded No. 2. Prithoki Chakraborty of West Bengal, who made a valiant effort along with her team mates in the team final yesterday against Delhi, is seeded No. 3 while Lakshita Narang, who led Delhi’s charge at the title showdown, is seeded at No. 4.
