Vadodara: Maharashtra’s Jamnabai Narsee School, which has a reputation of producing paddlers by the dozen, went through the motion with authentic 3-1, 3-0 and 3-0 triumphs in the in the first round matches of the Junior Boys, Senior Boys and Senior Girls categories, beating their rivals St Paul’s High School from Telangana, KIIT Internaitonal School, Bhubaneswar and St Joseph’s Anglo-Indian School from Kerala, respectively in the second edition of the 11Even Sports Inter-School National Championships got underway at the Sama Indoor Complex here on Saturday.
Incidentally, the Mumbai school and Jermel’s Academy from North Bengal were the first two teams to make the cut in the Junior Boys and Junior Girls sections with two wins.
The Mumbai school boys, the title-holders in both junior and senior categories, were the obvious choice to be placed on top of group 1. However, with their senior girls’ team unable to finish among the title last year, they found themselves placed in group 5 along with the Kerala outfit and Delhi Public School from UP.
With Neev Kapadia, Rajveer Shah, Kushal Patel and Tanmay Rao making a strong squad, the Mumbai schoolboys were expected to pooh-pooh the Telangana challenge. But credit must go to St Paul’s boys who managed to take a game off the Mumbai outfit. After that the Mumbai boys beat JDT Islam New School from Kerala 3-0 to lead the points chart.
Similarly, Jermel’s Academy girls first beat Gayatri Vidya Peet from Uttrakhand and then accounted for Akshafra International School from Andhra 3-0 for their entry into the main draw.
It was, more or less, the same case with their teams doing exceedingly well in the other two sections. But the best first-round match happened to be between St Xavier’s School (Jaipur) and Dr KRRS Gowtham from Andhra Padesh which the former won 3-2 in a keen battle.
Of the 75 teams confirmed entry, the Senior Boys recorded the most with 20 while it was one less in Junior Boys with 19. As for the girls, both the senior and junior categories registered 18 teams each. This meant division six groups in each of the section with three and four teams per group.
With only two teams each qualifying from Stage 1, it presents as much opportunity to the eventual team leader as also the second, third or fourth slotted squads.
But with just two rounds scheduled for the day, only the third round matches tomorrow will determine which of the two teams from each group will advance.
Results:
Junior Boys (Round 1): Jamnabai Narsee School (Mah) Maharashtra bt St. Paul’s (Tel) 3-1; Maharaja Agreshen Public School (Raj) bt Maharshi Vidya Mandir (TN) 3-0; Navrachna School (Guj) bt Tangjeng Ninothon Flowers (Man) 3-1; DAV Public School (Har) bt Apeejay Mahavir Marg (Pun) 3-0; The King’s School (Goa) bt Summer Valley School (Uttk) 3-1; Techno India Group Public School (NB) bt Advance Academy (MP) 3-1; Sri Kumaran Children Home (Ktk) 3-0.
Junior Girls (Round 1): Jermel’s Academy (NB) bt Gayatri Vidya Peth (Uttk) 3-1; Scholars Rosary Senior Secondary School (Har) bt Don Bosco Central School (Ker) 3-0; Nalanda Public School (Mah) bt St. Patrick’s Jr. College (UP) 3-1; Kalyani Public School, Barasat (WB) bt St. Patrick’s Matric HS (Pond) 3-0; Bharathidhasanar School (TN) Dav Chandrasekharpur (Odsh) 3-0; G.M. Donda Praymari School (Guj) bt SICA SS School (MP) 3-0.
Senior Boys (Round 1): Jamnabai Narsee School (Mah) bt KIIT Bhuvaneswar (Odsh) 3-0; Loyala HS (Goa) bt St. Paul’s HS (MP) 3-1; Techno India Group PS (NB) bt Sri Kumaran Children Home (Ktk) 3-0; Scholars Rosary School (Har) bt Paradise English School (Man) 3-0; Rainbow International School (HP) bt The Doon School (Uttk) 3-0; Rabindra Path Bhavan (WB) bt Amalorpavam Higher Secondary School (Pon) 3-0.
Senior Girls (Round 1): Siliguri Girls HS (WB) bt Summer Valley School (Uttk) 3-0; Nahhti Adarsh Vidya Niketan (WB) bt Rainbow International School (HP) 3-0; Jamnabai Narsee School (Mah) bt St. Joseph’s Anglo Indian (Ker) 3-0; Soha School & Jr. College bt Mushtifund HS (Goa) 3-0.
