Kozhikode, October 3: The current National `A' and National junior champion Abhijit Kunte of Maharashtra has been awarded the title of International Master by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), according to a All-India Chess Federation press release.Kunte is India's 24th International Master. The IOC-employed player attained his maiden 10 games IM norms in the Goodricke International Chess Tournament at Calcutta in 1992 and the final one from the 34th National `A' chess held at Bhilai.Kunte was the winner of the National under-21 championship in 1988 and under-12 and under-14 titles in 1990 and 1991 respectively. He has also won the bronze in the Asian Sub-Junior Championship held in Vietnam in 1993.20-year old Abhijit is the son of Prakash Kunte, Asst Registrar of Pune University. IWM Mrunalini Kunte and Meena Kunte are his sisters.Racket bustedJAIPUR: Close on the heels of a multi-crore operation by cricket bookies being broken in Calcutta, police claim to have smashed a betting racket on the Indo-Pak third One-Day International in Lahore last night.Four persons were arrested while one escaped the dragnet as police swooped in on the operation with stakes of over Rs 25 lakh. When police raided, on a tip-off, the culprits tried to flee after locking the door. But four of them were apprehended while one person managed to give the slip.Lifters for WorldsNEW DELHI: The highly-acclaimed N Kunjarani and Karnam Malleswari will spearhead the Indian challenge in the World Weightlifting Championships to be held at Chiangnai (Thailand) from December 6 to 14.Th e lifters, selected are: N Kunjarani (46 kg); Sanamacha Chanu (50 kg); Nandini Devi (54 kg); K Malleswari and Pratima Kumari (59 kg); N Laxmi and Khoni Devi (64 kg); and Sumitra Laha and Bharti Singh (76 kg). PS Sandhu, AS Virk and T Stochiev (Coaches) and Gopal Khanra (Manager).
