Western Asian Youth Chess C’ships: India dominate proceedings

India’s domination continued but hopes of a ‘golden sweep’ suffered a setback after the eighth and penultimate round of the Western Asian youth chess championship.

Representational Image: En route to his bronze medal, Aryaveer had defeated Ubaydullaev Mukhammadiso of Uzbekistan.

India’s domination continued but hopes of a ‘golden sweep’ suffered a setback after the eighth and penultimate round of the Western Asian youth chess championship here on Monday.

Out of the 13 sections, including three combined ones, India seemed set to win the gold in 11. In the under-20 category, both open and girls, Uzbekistan was likely to take the titles. Overall, India could well collect 14 out of 16 gold medals on offer.

In the under-20 section, Rajdeep Sarkar (6.5) slipped from the top spot after Uzbek Abdimalik Abdisalimov (7) scored over Divya Deshmukh who is playing in the open category.

In the girls’ under-20, too, overnight leader Vantika Agarwal (6) tumbled following two draws. As a result, Uzbek Bakhora Abdusattorova and Sakshi Chitlange shared the lead at 6.5 points.

On the brighter side, Srijit Paul (6.5) snatched the lead from Sri Lanka's G. M. H Thilakarathne (5.5) in the combined under-18 and under-16 section.