Anwesh, Aparajita win junior chess titles

Anwesh Upadhyaya (Bhubaneswar) and Aparajita Gochhikar (Puri) were crowned champions among boys and girls respectively in the State Junior (under-19) Chess Meet at Ajay Binay Institute of Technology, CDA, Cuttack today. Anwesh, also the reigning state senior champion, topped the table with 7.5 points, while Aparajita did so with 5.5 points. The top four finishers in both the categories qualified to represent Orissa in the Junior National Championship to be held next month. Income Tax Additional Commissioner K K Nath handed over the trophies and cash prizes at the closing function. The three-day tournament was hosted by Cuttack District Chess Association under the auspices Orissa Chess Ad-hoc Committee. Final standings (Top 10): Girls: 1. Aparajita Gochhikar (5.5), 2. Sunyasakta Satpathy (5), 3. Smaraki Mohanty (4.5), 4. Adyasha Patnaik (4), 5. Sovna Sonali Jena (4), 6. Anwesha Mishra (4), 7. Sradhanjali Jena (3.5), 8. Akankshya Nayak (3.5), 9. Debanjana Bose (3), 10. Aditi Sushree (3). Boys: 1. Anwesh Upadhyaya (7.5), 2. Swayams Mishra (7), 3. Mohammad Ashraf (7), 4. Biswajeet Nayak (6.5), 5. Mahesh Prasad Sethi (6), 6. Rakesh Jena (6), 7. Biswajeet Patnaik (6), 8. Saswat Khuntia (6), 9. Rakesh Nayak (6), 10. Sourav Mohanty (6). PHOTO: State junior chess champions Anwesh Upadhyaya (Left) and Aparajita Gochhikar.