Debasish, Sidhant, Utkal picked for Asian Youth chess

Three players from Orissa have been selected to represent India in the Asian Youth Chess Championship to be held at New Delhi from August 1 to 9. According to indianchessfed.org, the official website of All India Chess Federation (AICF), Sidhant Mohapatra and Debasish Das were picked in category-I (seeded players) on the basis of winning a bronze medal each in last year’s Asian championship. Besides the duo, Rourkela boy Utkal Ranjan Sahoo was chosen in category-III as host entry. One more Orissa boy — Sankalp Baliarsingh — has been given an opportunity to represent the country under category-III (doner entry). Asian under-14 girls’ champion Padmini Rout, who is an automatic choice, has expressed her unwillingness to take part in the Asian Youth tournament as it is clashing with an international open tournament in the Netherlands, she has confirmed to play. The Asian Youth Championship would feature competition in six different age categories (under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18).