BHUBANESWAR 31-Oct-2012 416
Sixth seed J Malleswar Rao of Andhra Pradesh clinched the title in the Rs 5 lakh All-India Open CAI Rating Chess Championship despite being forced to a draw by N Abdul Majeed of Kerala in the ninth and final round here at Times Scholars Gurukul, Gothapatna today. Overnight sole leader Rao secured his place at the top of the table eight points, winning eight games and drawing the remaining two. He pocketed a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
Second seed Ram Prakash of Punjab settled as runner-up with 7.5 points and he received the second prize of Rs 60,000. Praful Mehta (Gujarat) became richer by Rs 35,000, finishing third with seven points.
Manas Ranjan Parida proved to be the most successful Odisha player, finishing eighth with 6.5 points. He received Rs 9,000. Top seed Gurpreet Pal Singh of Delhi failed to live upto his reputation as he occupied a disappointing 24th position with 5.5 points.
Local MP Dr Prassana Patasani handed over the trophy at the closing ceremony. Times Scholar`s Gurukul chairman Dr Sarada Prasad Mishra, host Chess Association of Odisha president Biplab Mishra, secretary Sabita Tripathy and former National `B` champion Mohammad Rafiq Khan were present on the occasion. Tournament arbiter Debasis Panigrahi was felicitated in the function.
FINAL STANDINGS (Top 20): 1. J Malleswar Rao (AP, 8), 2. Ram Prakash (Pun, 7.5), 3. Praful Mehta (Guj, 7), 4. Surender Sharma (Del, 7), 5. N Abdul Majeed (Ker, 7), 6. Rohan Vijay Sandilya (Kar, 7), 7. MK Alaguraja (TN, 7), 8. Manas Ranjan Parida (Odi, 6.5), 9. Abhisar Sakalle (MP, 6.5), 10. Sandeep Jain (Raj, 6.5), 11. Harish Sharma (Del, 6.5), 12. Sudhir Kumar Sinha (Bih, 6.5), 13. Anil Shivpuri (Del, 6), 14. Govind Kumar (UP, 6), 15. Deepak Rajput (CG, 6), 16. Tapas Mandal (WB, 6), 17. Jitendra Kumar Jawahar (Bir, 6), 18. Sanjay Chhabra (Har, 6), 19. AK Jagadeesh (Ker, 6), 20. Devvrat Tiwari (CG, 6).
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PHOTO: J Malleswar Rao (right) takes the trophy in Bhubaneswar on October 31, 2012.
