India makes 'golden sweep' at Western Asian Youth chess championship

India swept 15 out of 16 gold medals at stake in the rapid section of the inaugural Western Asian Youth chess championship.

India claimed 43 medals, out of 48 (Representative image).

As expected, India swept 15 out of 16 gold medals at stake in the rapid section of the inaugural Western Asian Youth chess championship here on Thursday.

In all, out of the 48 medals, India claimed 43. The only gold that eluded the host was in the under-18 open section where Uzbekistan’s Mukhammadali Adurakhmonov's effort prevented a ‘golden sweep’ for India.

Even as the host collected 15 gold, and 14 silver and bronze medals, Uzbekistan was second with a lone gold, followed by Bangladesh and Tajikistan with a silver each. Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka settled for a bronze each.

The seven-round competition across 16 categories witnessed some exciting matches and close finishes in the race to the podium.

The classical format begins on Friday and ends on September 10. On the final day, the blitz format will also be played.

The following are the medallists (Indians unless stated, points from seven rounds):

Under-6: 1. R. Nijesh (5.5), 2. Havish Tadavarthy (5.5), 3. Aditya Joshi (5.5)

Under-8: 1. Ethan Vaz (6.5), 2. Rosh Jain (6), 3. Aaryaveer Agarwal (5)

Under-10: 1. Daaevik Wadhawan (6), 2. Krupal Wanjari (5.5), 3. Arun Daakshin (5)

Under-12: 1. Gaurang Bagwe (6.5), 2. Sahib Singh (5.5), 3. Shaik Sumer Arsh (5)

Under-14: 1. R. Abhinandhan (6), 2. Aditya Gampa (5), 3. Nikhil Magizhnan (5)

Under-16: 1. V. Jayachandra (5.5), 2. Anees Mohammad (5.5), 3. Abilmansur Abdilkhair (Kaz,5).

Under-18: 1. Mukhammadali Abdurakhmonov (Uzb, 5.5), 2. Srijit Paul (5), Arjun Gupta (5);

Under-20: 1. Sankalp Gupta (6), 2. Rahul Srivatshav (5.5), 3. Anuj Shrivatri (5.5).

Girls:

Under-6: 1. Diya Sawal (7), 2. Geethika Rammadugu (6), 3. Srijita Das (5)

Under-8: 1. Meenakshi Kolagatla (6.5), 2. Khusbu Warsia (Ban,6); Tashna Agarwal (5)

Under-10: 1. Sachi Jain (6.5), 2. Hiya Panchal (6.5), 3. Suguna Kukreja (5).

Under-12: 1. G. Tejaswini (6), 2. K. Ratnapriya (5.5), 3. Cera Dagaria (5.5).

Under-14: 1. Shivika Rohilla (6), 2. Sabrina Abrorova (Tjk, 5.5), 3. Sarayu Valpula (5.5).

Under-16: 1. Bristy Mukherjee (6), 2. Vyshnavi Chinnam (5.5), 3. Dewnethmie Dahampariya (Sri, 5)

Under-18: 1. K. Priyanka (6.5), 2. L. Jyothsna (5.5), 3. Srishti Pandey (5).

Under-20: 1. Aakanksha Hagawane (7), 2. Rutuja Bakshi (5), 3. Savitha Shri (5).