The Hindu : Sport : Harikrishna's hour of glory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 01, 2004

Sport

Sport

Harikrishna's hour of glory

By Stan Rayan

— Photo: Mahesh Harilal

RUSSIAN QUEEN AND INDIAN KING: Russia's Ekaterina Korbut, the girls' champion, and India's P. Harikrishna, winner of the boys' title, congratulate each other.

KOCHI, NOV. 30. Seventeen years after Viswanathan Anand first put India on the world chess map, the country celebrated its second Junior World champion with the crowning of Pendyala Harikrishna here on Tuesday.

After spending a good part of his time throwing anxious glances at nearby boards at the Casino Hotel this afternoon, the Hyderabad Grandmaster lifted his second World title. He had won the under-10 Worlds at Menorca, Spain, in 1996.

"There was too much tension. At one stage, I didn't move for nearly 20 minutes," said the elated 18-year-old second seed.

Since two other players, China's Zhao Jun and Armenian Tigran L. Petrosian, were also in the race for the crown, Harikrishna frequently kept checking their progress on nearby tables before agreeing for the 50-move draw against top-seeded Ferenc Berkes which gave him the crown. Petrosian bagged the silver while Zhao took the bronze.

Harikrishna is the second Indian, after Anand in 1987, to win the boys' Junior Worlds. His State-mate Koneru Humpy had won the Girls Worlds in Athens three years ago.

Korbut triumphs

Russian Ekaterina Korbut lifted the girls' title, shaking off a series of draws, which tied her down in the early rounds.

Pune girl Eesha Karavade won the bronze and along with it her second Woman Grandmaster norm.

Harikrishna came looking for a victory in the final round against Hungarian Berkes. In the King's Indian Attack, the Hyderabad youngster won a pawn in the 18th move. But slowly, the game moved to an opposite colour bishop ending, which frequently ends in a draw. But the Indian signed the peace treaty only after Chinese Zhao Jun, who shared the lead with him last evening, lost his game against under-18 World champion Radoslaw on the next table.

CM's pat

The Chief Minister, Dr.Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, congratulated Pentyala Harikrishna for winning the World junior chess championship in Kochi on Tuesday. Dr. Reddy lauded "the wonderful performance of the youngster." The Chief Minister hoped that Harikrishna would bring more laurels to the State.

Final placings (top 10):

Boys: 1. Pendyala Harikrishna (Ind, 10 pts. from 13 rounds), 2. Tigran L. Petrosian (Arm, 9.5), 3. Zhao Jun (Chn, 9.5), 4. Radoslav Wojtaszek (Pol, 9), 5. Alekseev Evgeny Vladimirovich (Rus, 8.5), 6. Ferenc Berkes (Hun, 8.5), 7. Jianu Vlad-Cristian (Rom, 8.5), 8. Yuri Drozdovsky (Ukr, 8.5), 9. Deep Sengupta (Ind, 8.5), 10. Koneru Humpy (Ind, 8.5).

Girls: 1. Ekaterina Korbut (Rus, 10.5 pts), 2. Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger, 9.5), 3. Eesha Karavade (Ind, 9.5), 4. Kruttika Nadig (Ind, 8.5), 5. Anna Ushenina (Ukr, 8), 6. N. Vinuthna (Ind, 8), 7. Marties Bensdorp (Ned, 8), 8. P. Sivasankari (Ind, 8), 9. Zhang Jilin (Chn, 7.5), 10. Siti Zulaikha (Mas, 7.5).

Important results (final round): Boys: P. Harikrishna drew with Ferenc Berkes, Zhao Jun lost to Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Tigran Petrosian drew with Elshan Moradiabadi, Evgeny Alekseev drew with Yuri Drozdovsky, Koneru Humpy bt Artem Iljin, Deep Sengupta bt Erwin l'Ami, Vlad-Cristian Jianu bt Yunieski Perez.

Girls: Elisabeth Paehtz lost to Kruttika Nadig, Alina Motoc lost to Ekaterina Korbut, Zhang Jilin lost to Eesha Karavade, Tania Sachdev drew with Anna Ushenina, Joanna Majdan lost to P. Sivasankari, Jennifer Perez lost to Marlies Bensdorp, Anastasiya Gutsko lost to N. Vinuthna.

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