Elwin Antony in action, on Monday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: Tamil Nadu’s Elwin Antony created a flutter on the first day of the National Grasscourt Tennis Championship, knocking out third seed Chandril Sood of Uttar Pradesh in straight sets.

The 21-year-old unseeded Antony thrashed Sood 6-3, 6-0 in a match that lasted just 67 minutes, at the South Club, here, on Monday.

“This is my first Grasscourt Nationals… I’m really excited to play here. I tried to give my best,” said the left-handed Antony.

The day also saw the ouster of seventh seed Lakshit Sood. He lost 1-6, 6-4, 4-6 to Ajai Selvaraj.

In the women’s, sixth seed Nupur Kaul of Maharashtra also fell by the wayside, losing to qualifier Mahitha D Reddy of Andhra Pradesh 4-6, 4-6.

However, all the other seeds advanced to the next round.

In the men’s, second seed Nitten Kirrtane of Maharashtra beat Bihar’s Rubal Shandilya 7-5, 6-2. The match between eighth seed Saurav Sukul of Bengal and Rajat Maheshwari was a closely contested affair. Sukul beat the Maharashtrian 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 after a two-hour and 25-minute battle.

Prarthana Thombare started her campaign on a rousing note, thrashing Snigdha Padamata 6-0, 6-0.