Indians dominate and bag 21 medals

The championships had participation of 15 countries with a total participation of 221 players. Interestingly, there was not even one category where the Indians came empty handed.

Indian chess players ended the Asian Youth championships on a high note, grabbing 21 medals, including six gold, here.

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M Mahalakshmi expectedly won the Gold medal in the under-8 girls section while after initial hiccups, Women International Master Padmini Rout won her last two games to emerge as the gold medallist in the under-14 girls.

The other Indian Girl to win the gold was P Uthra, who was quite impressive in the under-18 girls' section.

Amongst the Indian boys, Diptayan Ghosh annexed the crown in the under-10 category, Girish Koushik was a worthy winner in the under-12 while Prasanna Rao won the under-14 to make it six Gold medals in all for the Indians in 12 championships organized simultaneously.

It turned out to be a complete Indian rout in the under-14 boys and Under-10 Girls wherein, all the six medals at stake were taken by the Indians.

Winning the silver and bronze in the under-14 boys were Vidit Gujarathi and Ankit Rajpara while in the under-10 girls' twice under-8 girls world champion Ivana Furtado finished second and the third spot was bagged by G K Monnisha.

Interestingly, there was not even one category where the Indians came empty handed.

Tejaswini Sagar won the silver medal in the under-8 girls while erstwhile leader in the boys section, Y Grahesh had to be content with a Bronze.

Sidhant Mahapatra made it a double for India in the under-10 boys bagging the bronze while in the under 12 boys it was a similar story with Sidhant Mahapatra coming in third position.

Similarly amongst girls, Priyanka Kumari bagged the bronze in the under-14 girls' while R Preethi came third in the under-18 girls.

B Adhiban won the silver in the under-16 boys while Bhakti Kulkarni bagged the Bronze in the girls' section.

The championships had participation of 15 countries with a total participation of 221 players.

Barring the under-8 and 18 boys and girls and under-14 girls that were played on a seven-round basis, the remaining championships were of nine rounds each.

List of Medal winners with total points in order of Gold, Silver and Bronze (Indians unless specified):

Under-8 Boys: Arya Omidi (Iri, 6), Ortik Nigmatov (Uzb, 5.5), Y Grahesh (5).

U-8 Girls: Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kaz, 6.5), Tejaswini Sagar (6), Vu Thi Dieu Uyen (Vie, 5)

U-10 Boys: Diptayan Ghosh (7.5), Mousavi Seyed Khalil (Iri, 7.5), Sidhant Mahapatra (7.5)

U-10 Girls: M Mahalakshmi (8), Ivana Furtado (6.5), G K Monnisha (6).

U-12 Boys: Girish Koushik (7.5), Nima Jambakht (Iri, 6), Shardul Gagare (6)

U-12 Girls: Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri, 8), Sinakshi Rathore (7), B Pratyusha (7)

U-14 Boys: Prasanna Rao (7.5), Vidit Gujarathi (7.5), Ankit Rajpara (6.5)

U-14 Girls: Padmini Rout (5.5), Sarvinoz Qurbonboyeva (Kaz, 5), Priyanka Kumari (4.5)

U-16: Salem A R Saleh (Uae, 7.5), B Adhiban (6.5), Ikrom Ilhomzade (Tjk, 6.5)

U-16 Girls: Y Hoang Thi Nhu (Vie, 7.5), Hejazipour Mitra (Iri, 6.5), Bhakti Kulkarni (6)

U-18 Boys: Toufighi Homayoon (Iri, 6), Semetey Tologontegin (Kgz, 4.5), Debashish Das (4.5)

U-18 Girls: P Uthra (5.5), Nafisa Muminova (Uzb, 5), R Preethi (5).