BHUBANESWAR 01-Dec-2012 424
Odisha youngsters bagged five medals in the Apollo Engineering College Commonwealth Chess Championships, which concluded at Chennai today. The medals included two gold and three silver.
Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout of Bhubaneswar won the gold in under-18 girls category, scoring eight points from 11 rounds. She won seven games, drew two and lost two.
Woman Candidate Master Saina Salonika (Bhubaneswar) grabbed the other gold in under-10 girls group with 5.5 points. She won four games, lost four and drew the remaining three. The three silver medals were pocketed by International Master Swayams Mishra (Cuttack), Aparajita Gochhikar (Puri) and Fide Master Rakesh Kumar Jena (Jajpur).
Swayams secured eight points with seven wins and three draws in under-20 boys category, Aparajita scored seven points with five wins and four draws in under-20 girls section and Rakesh collected seven points through six wins and two draws in under-12 boys group. Overall, Padmini was most successful, finishing 22nd among a total of 455 competitors. She was followed by Swayams (23rd), Rakesh (86th), Aparajita (91st) and Sain (243rd).
Among nine other Odisha players in the fray, Utkal Ranjan Sahoo (7), Sidhant Mohapatra (7), WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (6.5), Rudraksh Parida (6), Rutumbara Bidhar (5), Adyasa Mahapatra (5), Vikramaditya Sahu (4.5), Baibhab Singh 4.5), Sambit Panda (4) occupied the 64th, 65th, 114th, 191st, 266th, 296th, 307th, 324th, 376th positions respectively in the final standings.
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PHOTO: Commonwealth medal winners (L to R) Saina Salonika, Padmini Rout and Aparajita Gochhikar in Chennai on Dec 1, 2012.
