CHENNAI: The second round of the National Women Chess Championship, which is being held at Chettinadu Public School, Managiri (Karaikudi), saw lesser-fancied players pulling off some big moves.
In an interesting game, Jeevika beat Bhakti Kulkarni, former Asian champion of Goa. Bhakti opted for the Winawer Variation of French defense and miscalculated during the opening and went for unfavourable complications.
WGM Rakshitta Ravi lost her game to state-mate Ananya Raman. Twenty-nine players are leading with two points each.
Nalene in semis
Nalene Amrutha beat top seed N Sharvani 4-0 in the girls’ Under-19 quarterfinals of the 6th TNTTA-Kauvery State Ranking table tennis tournament.
Results: Q/Fs: U-19
Boys: PB Abhinandh (Chennai Achievers) bt Vishruth Ramakrishnan (MST) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5; S Manikandan (SK Academy) bt K Akshay Bhushan (Chennai Achievers) 9-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-8; MR Balamurugan (RTTHPC) bt S Sriram (Chennai Achievers) 11-4, 12-10, 11-8; Suresh Raj Preyesh (RTTHPC) bt S Mehan (Chennai Achievers) 13-11, 11-9, 11-4.
Girls: S Nalene Amrutha (MVM) bt N Sharvani (Mylapore club) 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5; BR Nandhini (MVM) bt S Ekantika (SK Academy) 11-7, 11-9, 11-8; M Ananya (Chennai Achievers) bt Jiyah Bhandari (CTTF) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6; A Shriya (CTTF) bt MRR Preeti (Chennai Achievers) 11-3, 11-8, 11-8.
Podolchenko on top
GM Evgeniy Podolchenko of Belarus is on top with five points at the end of the seventh round of the 30th Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament.
Kamalini shines
An unbeaten 70 by G Kamalini paved the way for Tamil Nadu to beat Andhra by nine wickets in the BCCI-Women U-19 T20 match played at Haryana.
Brief scores: Andhra 107/6 in 20 ovs (P Ranga Lakshmi 45; N Sridharan 3/20) lost to TN 110/1 in 18.4 ovs (G Kamalini 70 n.o).
TN colts lose
V Vineeth’s 98 went in vain as Tamil Nadu lost to Punjab by 63 runs in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy U-19 one-dayers at Jaipur.
Chiranth, Sarthak lead show
Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath grabbed the pole position in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category ahead of the final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024. Chiranth edged out his TVS Racing teammate and Championship leader, Sarthak Chavan from Pune, who took P2 ahead of Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing India) for Saturday’s Race-1. Sarthak, however, bounced back to snatch the pole position in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open.