India ensure two gold

MARCH 31: Child prodigies Abhinav Mekala and VK Sindhu ensured two gold medals while three more youngsters kept India in line for glory at...

MARCH 31: Child prodigies Abhinav Mekala and VK Sindhu ensured two gold medals while three more youngsters kept India in line for glory at the Asian Youth Chess championship here on Thursday.

Abhinav used four knights opening with white pieces against Sadeh-Sh 4 And convincingly beat the Iranian to take his tally to seven points 8211; two clear of second-placed players in the boys8217; under-10 section.

In second place are Iran8217;s H Tofighi and U Azamatkozuba of Kazakhstan with five points each and only two rounds to go.

In the girls8217; under-10 section, Sindhu assured herself of a gold with an upset win over B Jing 5.5 of China in Reti Opening with white pieces. Sindhu is 1.5 points ahead of Jing and needs only a draw from two rounds to emerge the youngest girls8217; champion in Asia.

While two of the youngest from the Indian contingent were on a high, Abhijeet Gupta boys8217; under-12; P Harikrishna boys8217; U-14 and Tania Sachdev girls8217; U-14 continued to lead in their respective sections.

Abhijeet 5.5 drew with compatriot G Rohit 4.5 to emerge as a sole leader. Close on heels was R Ozhumabaev of Kazakhstan with five points. The Kazakh drew his seventh round game with J Maroofi 5.

Reigning Asian under-14 boys8217; champion Harikrishna 6.5 outsmarted SJ Alavimoghadam of Iran in Sicilian Irregular with white pieces to be lone contender at the top of his section.

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Harikrishna is followed by Iran8217;s H Rahmasebi 5.5 and the Indian needs just two draws from as many games to retain his crown.

Promising Tania Sachdev 5 drew with Vietnam8217;s M H Luone4.5 in Sicilian Defence with black pieces, to share the top position in girls8217; under-14 section with Kazakhstan8217;s D Tuitebaeva.

Tuitebaeva snatched a full point from Yi Yun 4 of China to emerge as joint leader.

RESULTS Round VII

BOYS U-14: P Harikrishna 6.5 bt SJ Alavimoghadam 4, Iran; H Tahamsebi 5.5, Iran drew M Ghadirian 4.5, Iran; Sayantan Dutta 4.5 drew HR Amini 4, Iran. U-12: Abhijeet Gupta 5.5 drew G Rohit 4.5; J Maroofi 4.5 drew R Ozhumabaev 5; O Guangyao 5 bt A Esenov 4, Turkmenistan. U-10: Abhinav Mekala 7 bt Sh Sadeh 4, Iran; H Tofighi 5, Iran bt O Duskuzhanov 4.5, Kazakhstan; U Azamatkozubai 5 bt A Abdullah Zadeh 3.5, Iran.

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GIRLS: U-14: M Luong 4.5 drew Tania Sachdev 5; D Tuitebaeva 5 bt Yi Yun X 4, China; Eesha Karavade 4.5 drew Dianat S 4.5, Iran.

U-12: QA Nguyen 6, Vietnam bt LY Jing 4, China; A Pourkashian 5, Iran bt J Tilenbaeva 4, Kazakhstan; Krutika Nadig 4.5 bt S Zulaikma 3, Malaysia.