Nine share lead in Entrants Div

MUMBAI, July 26: Nine players in Group A are leading jointly with three points each at the end of the third-round in the Entrant's Divisi...

MUMBAI, July 26: Nine players in Group A are leading jointly with three points each at the end of the third-round in the Entrant8217;s Division chess tournament, organised by the Bombay Chess Association at the Zandu Pharmceutical Works Canteen, Sayani Road. In the seven rounds preliminary matches in B Group, only two matches have been played.

On Saturday night, A-Group top seed Chandrakant Reddy came out with a full point only because of luck. Kirti Shah, with black pieces against Reddy, was playing a Guico Piano game.

In an almost won game Shah unnecessarily sacrificed his rook for white knight on his 49th turn when both the players had three pawns each. Though Shah had 35 minutes on his clock, he miscalculated and hurriedly captured his opponent8217;s knight by rook. This move cost Shah a full point. Happy Reddy pushed his D8217; pawn and promoted to queen on his 54th turn. Helpless Shah resigned on the 58th move.

The battle between two college students, Nitin Watwe and third seed Mehul Sampat was won by Watkein 40 moves with black pieces. Amit Kakker defeated Jerome Lawrence, while Pravin Bhatkar prevailed over Milind Muradkar.

Milind Ketakar played too fast to lose against Mangesh Hegisthe in a winning position. Reddy, Watwe, Kakkad, Bhatkar, Hegishte, Aditya Bhat, Nitin Warde, Vatsalya Saxena and Omkar Dhole have won all their three matches to remain on top.

Earlier in the B8217; Group, Malthi Vhatwar of Chetna College held top seed Vakil Akhtar to a draw, while her brother Kuldeep defeated fifth seed Gaurav Hingne. Sixth seed Parag Tewadekar beat Jignesh Yadav.

Shaikh stuns Tilak

Unseeded Taju Shaikh scored a shock 25-1, 25-9 victory over top seed Ashutosh Tilak in the boys under-18 singles first-round encounter of the tenth Thane District carrom tournament, sponsored by Star Sports Industries, today.

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In another under-18 boys singles match, Atul Kulkarni upstaged Aditya Modak 25-12, 25-9.

Seedings

Men8217;s singles: 1 Neeranjan Nimkar, 2 Shabbir Khan, 3 Sanjay Mande, 4 Milind Kulkarni, 5Sallauddin Shaikh, 6 Robin Sharma, 7 Vijay Marpelli and 8 Abdul Sattar.

Women8217;s singles: 1 Shilpa Joshi, 2 Sujata Helinge, 3 Meenal Lele and 4 Sonal Lele.

Badminton tourney

The Greater Mumbai District badminton championship, a selection tournament, is going to be held from August 3 to 7 at the CCI badminton court. Totally there will be 13 events and the total prize-money is Rs 50,000.

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Entry forms are available at the CCI. Entries can be sent to the CCI or to Kulin N Manek, hon. secretary, GMBA, before July 30.

Thane Badminton

The Navi Mumbai Sports Association will be hosting the Thane District Badminton Championships from August 4 to 8. There are 20 events in singles and doubles for various age groups. Details can be had from Srikanth Vad Ph 542 1472 and 5401789. The last date for receiving entries is July 31.