The Hindu : Disappointing show by Indians

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 04, 2003

Sport

Sport - Chess

Disappointing show by Indians

By Our Sports Reporter

KOZHIKODE NOV. 3. The World youth chess championship concluded at Halkidiki (Greece) on Sunday on a disappointing note for India. They were 29 Indians in the fray, but only one of them was able to win a medal. Not a great effort for a country which has won six titles in this competition since 1996 and which is regarded as a major force in international age-group chess.

It was S. Ravi Teja, hailing from Elooru in Andhra, who saved India the blushes in Greece, by winning the boys' under-10 silver. More fancied players, like Dronavalli Harika, Koneru Humpy, Parimarjan Negi, G. Rohit and K. Lakshmi Sahithi failed to live up to expectations.

Former Asian junior championship J. Deepan Chakravarthy came fifth in the boys' under-16 competition, in which reigning Asian women's champion Koneru Humpy, who was the top seed, was placed tenth. In the girls' under-14 section, much was expected of Dronavalli Harika, but she could only finish fifth.

There was a fifth placing for Gundala Madanasree too, in the girls' under-10 event. No other Indian finished inside the top ten in any of the ten sections.

Russia and China won three gold apiece. The most prominent among the champions were Shakhriyaz Madedyarov of Azerbaijan, who won the boys' under-18 title, and Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia, the girls' under-18 winner. But their victories were widely expected though, as they are the current World junior champions as well.

The placings (11 rounds):

Boys: Under-18: 1. Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (Aze) 2595 10, 2. Alexandr Kharitonov (Rus) 8, 3. Tomi Nyback (Fin) 8, 57. Saptarshi Roy (Ind) 5, 91. Himanshu Kumar (Ind) 4.

Under-16: 1. Borki Predojevic (BIH) 9, 2. Anthony Bellaiche (Fra) 9, 3. Evgeny Tomashevsky (Rus) 8.5, 5. DeepanChakkravarthy (Ind) 8, 10. Koneru Humpy (Ind) 7.5, 26. K. Nikhilesh Kumar (Ind) 6.5, 35. Akshayraj Kore (Ind) 6.

Under-14: 1. Sergei Zhigalko (Blr) 9, 2. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 9, 3. Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) 8.5, 14. Abhjeeit Gupta (Ind) 7, 22. D. Sai Srinivas (Ind) 7, 29. G. Rohit (Ind) 6.5.

Under-12: 1. Chenpeng Wei (Chn) 10, 2. Liem Le Quang (Vie) 9, 3. Maxim Matlakov (Rus) 8.5, 31. Sankalp Modwal (Ind) 6.5, R. Ashwath (Ind) 6, 67. Yuzvendra Chahal (Ind) 5.5.

Under-10: 1. Sanan Sjugirov (Rus) 9.5, 2. S. Ravi Teja (Ind) 8.5, 3. Renato Alfredo Terry Lujan (Per) 8.5, 9. Parimarjan Negi (Ind) 8, 15. Aditya Udesi (Ind) 7, 24. K. Priyadharshan (Ind) 7.

Girls: Under-18: 1. Nana Dzagnidze (Geo), 2. Natalia Zdebskaja (Ukr) 8, 3. Natalija Pogonina (Rus) 8, 39. P. Priya (Ind) 5.

Under-16: 1. Polina Malysheva (Rus) 8.5, 2. Karina Szczepkowska (Pol) 8.5, 3. Salome Melia (Geo) 8, 12. N. Vinuthna (Ind) 7.

Under-14: 1. Valentina Gunina (Rus) 9, 2. Turkan Mamedjarova (Aze) 8.5 3. Nadejda Kharmunova (Rus) 8.5, 5. Dronavalli Harika (Ind) 8, 14. N. Raghavi (Ind) 7, 19. J. Rajasurya (Ind) 6.5.

Under-12: 1. Yixin Ding (Chn) 10, 2. Sopiko Guramishvili (Geo) 8.5, 3. Zhongyi Tan (Chn) 8.5, 11. K. Lakshmi Praneetha (Ind) 7, 12. I. Ramya Krishna 7, 61. Dhyani Dave (Ind) 4.5.

Under-10: 1. Yifan Hou (Chn) 9.5, 2. M. Hejazipour (IRI) 9, 3. Nazi Paikidze (Geo) 8.5, 5. Gundala Madanasri (Ind) 8, 11. P. Lakshmi Sahithi 7, 12. J. Mohana Priya (Ind) 7.

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