CHESS
Winning start for Praggnanandhaa at Oslo Esports Cup
R. Praggnanandhaa was off to a roaring start in the Oslo Esports Cup online rapid chess tournament by destroying higher-rated Dutch rival Jorden van Foreest 2.5-0.5 on Friday.
The talented teenager won with black pieces in the first and third games and drew with white to join Magnus Carlsen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri as the day’s winners.
- Rakesh Rao
Menorca Open: Gukesh, Aryan among leaders
Overnight leaders D. Gukesh and Aryan Chopra drew their fifth round before fourth seeded Armenian Shant Sargsyan joined them at 4.5 points by stunning top seed Arjun Erigaisi in Group A of the Menorca Open chess tournament in Menorca, Spain, on Saturday.
While Arjun stayed at 3.5 points, Nihal Sarin, B. Adhiban, Raunak Sadhwani and S. P. Sethuraman reached four points.
- Rakesh Rao
National U-18 chess: Soham, Bhagyashree clinch titles
Soham Kamotra (J&K) and Bhagyashree Patil (Maharashtra), as expected, clinched the open and girls' crown in the MPL 31st National under-18 chess championship at the Dr. Mahalingam CET campus in Coimbatore on Saturday.
Both Soham and Bhagyashree drew their final rounds to tally 9.5 and 10 points respectively for the title. It is probably the first time that a player from J&K has sealed the national title. IM L.R. Srihari and A.R. Ilamparthi , both from the host State, finished second and third in the open section. V. Rindhiya and S. Kanishka did likewise in the girls' category.
M. Manickam, Chairman, Sakthi Group and President of the State Association, gave away the prizes.
- Rayan Rozario
TENNIS
Divij reaches doubles final at Mexico Challenger
Divij Sharan in partnership with Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal beat the second seeds Andrej Martin and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-4 in the doubles semifinals of the ATP Challenger event in Mexico.
In the final, Divij and Oliveira were scheduled to meet the top seeds, Nicolas Barrientos and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela who had ousted Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Luis Davis Martinez 10-2 in the super tie-break of the other semifinal.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
Asia-Oceania World Junior under-14 girls: India loses to Korea in third place match
India's Aishwarya Jadhav beat Ju Heewon of South Korea, but India lost 2-1 in the third place match of the Asia-Oceania World Junior under-14 girls tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Saturday.
The team, under the leadership of Namita Bal, had done remarkably well to qualify for the World Group.
Japan pulled off a coup against Australia with an exhilarating performance in scoring a 2-1 victory in the final.
Emerson Jones put Australia ahead with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over Kurea Hayasaka. Tahila Kokkinis looked good with her vibrant game but Azuna Ichioka counter punched brilliantly to put Japan on par with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph in the second singles.
In the decisive doubles, Japan was a step ahead, as Kurea Hayasaka and Rira Kosaka combined brilliantly to beat Emerson and Tahila 6-4, 6-3.
- Kamesh Srinivasan
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