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PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
VUNG TAU CITY, SEPT 24: India's National A champion Krishnan Sasikiran clinched the Asian Junior boys' chess title defeating Yuliano Erwin in the final round on a dramatic day in the Continental Championships here.
Overnight leaders Sasikiran and Mas Hafizulhelmi (Malaysia) were locked in a close battle with 7.5 points each but the Malaysian was stunned by Iran's Ehsan Ghaen Maghami (5.5) while promising Filipino Laylo Darwin won his game to finish behind the Indian.
GM norm holder Sasikiran's (8.5) win ensured that India retained the title which Tejas Bakre had won last year at Rasht (Iran). Bakre (7) settled for fourth place behind Hafizulhelmi (7.5) this time around.
China's Wang Yu (10) became the Asian girls' champion with her remarkable run at the tournament losing just one point in the 11-round competition. Wang beat Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Dung (5) in the final round today and was closely followed by local lass Le K Thien Kim (9.5) in the second place.
National women's champion S Vijayalakshmi(8.5) secured a creditable third place ending her campaign in style with a win against Lim Jean Nie (4.5).
Of the other Indian girls in fray, Pallavi Shah, with six points, was sixth while MR Sangeetha could garner just three points and finish way down the table.
Sasikiran won $ 1000 (about Rs 43,000) while the runner-up settled for $ 700. Four of the five Indians made it to the prize list.
It was a suspense-filled day today as Hafizulhelmi had an advantage over Sasikiran in the event of both finishing on equal points.
A win for the Malaysian could have seen him claim the title ahead of Sasikiran as he had better progressive scores.
From a very good position, Hafizulhelmi arrived at a drawish one and finally lost the game against Maghami.
RESULTS (11TH ROUND)
Boys: K Sasikiran (8.5) bt Yuliano Erwin (5.5), Mas Hafizilulhelmi (7.5) lost to Ghaem Maghami (6.5) Laylo Darwin (8) bt Nguyen Hino Nam (5.5), Tran Ngoc Thach (6) drew with Liang Chong (7), Nguyen Thai Binh (6) drew with Tejas Bakre(7), Enamul Hossain (6) drew with Kanatov Aksar (5.5), Suitzev Timoltu (3.5) lost to Ahmed Aziz (6).
Girls: Nguyen Thi Dung (5) lost to Wang Yu (10), Le K T Kim (9.5) bt Babalaeva Indira (5), S Vijayalakshmi (8.5) bt Lim Jean Nie (4.5) Le Ph Lien (7) bt MR Sangeetha (3), Pallavi Shah (6) drew with Nguyen Ng Binh (4.5), Chain T Ng Giao (5) bt Bui Nhumy (5), Lee Su Ann (2) lost to Dang Bich Ngoc (6), Lomi Bao Sherrie (5.5) bt Constantinon (1.5).
Kidambi wins
YEREVAN: India's junior National champion Sundararajan Kidambi demonstrated his skills in positional game to defeat Swiss Kumin Simon to earn a full point while Nisha Mohota drew with Slavina Irina in the sixth round of the World Junior Chess Championships here.
Kidambi (3) recovered well from a fifth round loss and displayed his greater strength in positional game when he countered the Torre Attack with elan. He gained control of d5 square and moved all his pieces through this square forcing Simon (2) to resign on the 46th move.
IWMMohota (3) played Dutch Defence against the Queen Pawn opening of Irina and the game slowly progressed to a draw.
GM Asrian Karen of Armenia, GM Alexander Gatkin of Russia, and China's Zhang Pong Xiang led in the boys section with five points each, after overnight leader Jenni Florian of Switzerland, sole leader till the fifth round, suffered a crushing defeat against Karen.
Maria Kouvdson (5) of Greece, the sole leader so far, was held to a draw by K Sopio (4.5) of Georgia in the girls section. Maria now shares the lead with Lithuania's Cmilyte Viktorjva, who beat second seed Vazda Sridonia (3.5) of Romania.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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