BHUBANESWAR: India’s teenage Woman International Master (WIM) Padmini Rout added one more feather to her cap by winning the gold medal in the girls’ category of the Asian Junior Chess Championship which concluded at Colombo on Tuesday. According to information received here, second seed Padmini crushed Sri Lanka’s Navindi Abeywardana in the ninth and last round to top the table with 8.5 points. It was superb performance by the Orissa girl, who clinched the title without conceding a defeat. She won eight games and drew the penultimate one against compatriot Bhakti Kulkarni.
This was the seventh international title for the 15-year-old Bhubaneswar lass, who earlier won the Asia under-12 and Commonwealth under-14 crowns twice each and Asia as well as World under-14 gold once each.
The Colombo championship proved to be a double delight for India as International Master Ashwin Jayaram too bagged the gold in the open category with eight points in his kitty. India also collected two bronze medals with International Master MR Lalith Babu (6.5) and Woman Grand Master (WGM) Soumya Swaminathan (6.5) finishing third in open and girls’ categories respectively.
Padmini’s fellow Orissa WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty, however, failed to live up to expectations by finishing fifth with five points. Seeded third, Kiran drew her last two games against N Raghavi and Soumya Swaminathan. In the open category, lone Orissa player Anwesh Upadhyaya finished 15th with five points. In his last two games, he defeated Shreyansh Daklia (India) and then lost to Toufighi Homayoon (Iran).
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik hailed Padmini and described her title triumph as a pride for the state. The humble girls’ father Dr Ashok Rout said the Asian Junior gold would boost her confidence. “She would leave for the Netherlands soon. I hope this success would help her do well,’’ he said.