Harshana leads Under-18 age category

Western Asian Online Youth Chess Championships 2021

Harshana Thilakarathne was enjoying a clear lead in the Under 18 boys’ category, while Dahamdi Sanudula and Oshini Devindya Gunawardena had five points against their names after six games at the end of the penultimate day of the Western Asian Online Youth Chess Championships on Sunday.

Thilakarathne had 5 ½ points after six games to lead the table in the Under-18 boys’ category.

Dahamdi Sanudula and Oshini Devindya Gunawardena with five points each were closely following their leaders in their respective age categories.

At the end of the second day India were leading six categories, while players from Iran were dominating four categories. Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan were the only countries outside India and Iran to lead an age group.

The Western Asian Online Youth Chess Championships conducted by the Asian Chess Federation and organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka commenced on Saturday. A total of 850 players were participating in this online chess event which was scheduled to conclude late in the evening yesterday.

The winners of each age group will be selected to play the FIDE World Youth and Cadet Chess Grand Prix 2021 to be conducted by the International Chess Federation.

After the 6th round the top standings of the age categories were:

Under 8 – B Vishruth (India) 6/6

Under 10 – TalebianZadeh (Iran) 6/6

Under 12 – Mrinmoy Rajkova (India) 6/6

Under 14 – Ergali Suleiman (Kazakhstan) 5 ½ /6

Under 16 – Rohith Krishna (India) 5.6

Under 18 – Harshana Thilakarathne (Sri Lanka) 5 ½ /6

Under 8 (Girls) – Ava Moktari (Iran) 6/6

Under 10 (Girls) – Rosa Akbari – (Iran 6/6)

Under 12 (Girls) – Sara Davari (Iran 6/6)

Under 14 (Girls) – Anupam M Sreekumar (India) 6/6

Under 16 (Girls) – Divya Deshmuk (India) 6/6

Under 18 (Girls) – Susmitha Bowmik (India) 5/6