BHUBANESWAR 14-Aug-2011 293
Saurabh Anand of Bihar and N Priyanka of Andhra Pradesh emerged champions in the open and girls’ categories respectively in the 25th National Under-9 Chess Championship, which concluded at College of Engineering campus here today.
Second seed Saurabh beat third seed Subhasis Barik (Orissa) in the 11th and final round to top the table with nine points. Top seed LN Ram Aravind (Tamil Nadu) settled as the runner-up with 8.5 points.
In the girls’ category, second seed Priyanka, who required a draw in the last round to clinch the title, accomplished the job comfortably against Pranali Ganapati Desai (Goa) to finish with 9.5 points. Home favourite and top seed Anwesha Mishra contended herself as the runner-up with 8.5 points after being forced to a draw by C Lakshmi (Tamil Nadu) on the second board.
The top 12 finishers in each category shared a total prize fund of Rs 75,000 with the champions pocketing Rs 10,000 each and the runners-up receiving Rs 7,500 each. The top two finishers in each category qualified to represent India in the related Asian and World Championships. Altogether 216 players, including 81 girls from 22 states participated in the nine-day tournament.
FINAL STANDING (Top 12):
Open category: 1. Saurabh Anand (Bih, 9), 2. LN Ram Aravind (TN, 8.5), 3. Rudraksh Parida (Ori, 8.5), 4. Rahul Srivatshav P (AP, 8), 5. Ansuman Samal (Ori, 8), 6. Adithya S Sadhu (TN, 8), 7. R Dileep Kumar (TN, 8), 8. Ayush Dalvi (Mah, 8), 9. M Barath (Goa, 8), 10. Subhasis Barik (Ori, 8), 11. S Vasishta (Kar, 8), 12. Kaustav Chatterjee (WB, 7.5).
Girls category: 1. N Priyanka (AP, 9.5), 2. Anwesha Mishra (Ori, 8.5), 3. C Lakshmi (TN, 8), 4. Adyasa Mahapatra (Ori,8), 5. Palkin Kaur (Del, 8), 6. Pranali Ganapati Desai (Goa, 8), 7. M Tejasvi (TN, 8), 8. Shyamashree Sarkar (WB, 7.5), 9. Choksey Maitri (Mah, 7.5), 10. Samriddhaa Ghosh (WB, 7.5), 11. Riddhi Zantye (Goa, 7), 12. Vantika Agarwal (Del, 7).
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PHOTO: N Priyanka (Left) and Saurabh Anand lift trophies at the Under-9 National Chess Championship in Bhubaneswar on August 14, 2011.
