Rahul Bharadwaj overcame a stiff challenge to prevail Samarth Bannur in a five set thriller in the pre-quarterfinals of the Cadet boys’ category in the State-level table tennis tournament at the Canara Union here on Saturday.

Bharadwaj won 19-17, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8 to advance into the quarterfinals.

In the girls section, Maitrayee Bailoor hardly broke a sweat while beating Yuktha in straight games 11-2, 11-2, 11-2.

Results (all prequarterfinals):
Cadet boys: Vedanth M Urs bt Yogesh P Rao 11-3, 11-4, 11-5; Srinidhi bt Samartha R 11-9, 11-7, 12-10; Shreyal K Telang bt Shreyas Shastry 11-4, 11-2, 11-6; Harshith R bt Ashutosh 11-6, 11-8, 11-7; Sunand Vasan bt Shaolin V Murthy 11-6, 11-3, 11-7; Rahul Bharadwaj bt Samarth Bannur 19-17, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8; Shreyas M bt Keshavraj 11-7, 11-5, 11-5.

Cadet girls: Maitrayee Bailoor bt Yuktha 11-2, 11-2, 11-2; Aishwarya w/o Kavya Sundar; Shivani Poovaiah bt Anjana S 11-5, 11-3, 11-4; Hari Priya bt Sanjana V 11-4, 11-7, 11-7; Soumya Urs bt Nagadiksha 6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8; Madhurya M B bt Ananya 11-3, 11-2, 11-4.