Grandmaster and 2016 Asian junior champion Aravindh Chithamabaram of Tamil Nadu defeated IM P Shyaam Nikhil of Railways to be in joint lead with GM MR Lalith Babu, at the end of the 11th round of the National Premier Chess Championship in Patna on Wednesday. Aravindh and Lalith have 7.5 points each. Defending champion Karthikeyan Murali of Tamil Nadu, SL Narayanan of Kerala and Arghyadip Das of Railways are second with 6.5 points each. Overnight leader Lalith Babu was held to a draw by Deepan Chakkravarthy of Railways.
Deepin shines
Deepin Chitkara’s 65 not out ensured a five-wicket win for Punjab over Tamil Nadu in the Cooch Behar Trophy U-19 match in Patiala. Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 155 & 232 in 92.2 ovs (A Barooah 67, R Kashyap 6/92) lost to Punjab 215 & 174/5 in 43.5 ovs (Deepin Chitkara 65 n.o). Points: Punjab 6, TN 0.
TN U-16 girls’ trials
The TNCA will conduct selection trials to pick the Tamil Nadu women’s U-16 team on November 17. The trials will be held from 7 am at MAC ‘B’ grounds at MA Chidambaram Stadium. Girls born on or after September 1, 2001, are eligible to attend. Players may enrol with the TNCA on the morning of the trials. Players have to carry two passport size photographs, original birth certificate, address proof and photo id.
Ashwin bags crown
Ashwin Karthik of Madurai bagged the U-13 boys’ crown at the 1st HAP Tamil Nadu sub-junior state ranking badminton meet on Wednesday. Winners: U-13: Boys’ singles: Ashwin Karthik (Madurai). U-15: Rithvik Sanjeevi (Chennai). Boys’ doubles: Bharath Sanjai (Erode)/Heman Nadeswar (Trichy). U-15: Rithvik Sanjeevi/Siddhanth Gupta (Chennai). Girls’ singles: U-13: S Deepta (Thiruvallur). U-15: N Pranavi ( Chennai). Girls’ doubles: U-13: K Gnanadha/S Sania (Madurai). U-15: N Pranavi (Chennai)/S Praveena (Virudunagar). sports@newindianexpress.com