Vadodara: With top four teams getting first-round main draw byes, it was left to the other eight teams in each section to fight it out to make the quarterfinals grade in the second edition of the 11Even Sports Inter-School National Championships, being played at the Sama Indoor Complex here on Sunday.
And, expectedly, the better ranked teams made the right moves to get to the next round without a sweat, particularly SBOA School team from Tamil Nadu in the Senior Boys section had to play out of their skins to beat Chandigarh’s Ryan International boys. The former won 3-2, after being 1-2 down, including the crucial doubles, as S. Aadithya and G. Varun won their reverse singles against Sahil Sharma and Karandeep Singh. Earlier, Aadithya had beaten Karandeep Singh 3-1.
In other matches, LG Kakadia School from Gujarat were taken the full distance before they beat Haryana’s Scholars Rosary 3-2, Rabindra Path Bhavan (WB) beat Paradise English School (Manipur) 3-0 and St Paul’s Higher Secondary School from MP beat Radhabal Inter College (UP) 3-2.
In Senior Girls, Maharishi Vidya Mandir from Assam played a marathon against Uttar Pradesh Delhi Public School for their 3-1 verdict to enter the quarterfinals where they will take on top-seeded Ugdam School from Gujarat. The nearly three-hour match saw 20 out of a possible 25 games making it the toughest match so far.
In other pre-quarterfinals, SBOA School from Tamil Nadu, Jamnabai Narsee from Maharashtra and Sri Aurobindo from Karnataka advanced.
In Junior Boys section, Cambridge Convent from UP, Techno Indo School from North Bengal, Sri Kumaran Children’s Home from Karantaka and St Paul’s High School from Telangana entered the quarterfinals with just one aberration—the last named struggled before overcoming neighbouring Andhra Pradesh’s Nalanda Vidya Niketan 3-2.
As for Junior Girls, SICA secondary School from MP, which reported half an hour behind schedule, managed to put it across Ponicherry’s St Patrick’s School 3-1. Fortunately for the MP outfit, the Pondicherry girls or, for that matter, their coach did not lodge a protest and were sporting enough to wait for their rivals. But their neighbouring Tamil Nadu school, Bharathiddasanar, outplayed Don Bosco from Kerala for a 3-0 blank out, Gujarat’s GM Donda, DPS from Karanataka advanced to the quarters with easy triumphs.
Results:
Junior Boys (PQF): Cambridge Convent (UP) bt The King’s School (Goa) 3-1, Techno India (NB) bt Maharishi Vidya Mandir (TN) 3-0, Sri Kumaran Children’s Home (Kar) bt Naihati Narendra (WB) 3-1, St Paul’s HS (Telg) bt Nalanda Vidhya Niketan (AP) 3-2.
Junior Girls (PQF): SICA Senior Secondary School (MP) bt St Patrick’s (Pon) 3-1, Bharathidhasanar (TN) bt Don Bosco (Ker) 3-0, GM Donda (Guj) bt Rainbow International (HP) 3-1, DPS (Kar) bt Gayatri Vidya Peet (Ukd) 3-1.
Senior Boys (PQF): SBOA School (TN) bt Ryan International (Chd) 3-2, Rabindra Path Bhavan (WB) bt Paradise English School (Man) 3-0, LG Kakadia (Guj) bt Scholars Rosary (Har) 3-2, St Paul Hr Sec School (MP) bt Radhabal Inter Colege (UP) 3-2.
Senior Girls (PQF): Maharishi Vidya Mandir (Asm) bt DPS (UP) 3-1, SBOA School (TN) bt DPS (MP) 3-0, Jamnabai Narsee (Mah) bt Rainbow International (HP) 3-0, Siri Aurobindo (Kar) bt St Xavier’s School (Raj) 3-0.
