BHUBANESWAR: Woman Fide Master Saina Salonika of Odisha returned with two medals in the Western Asian Online Chess Championship. Saina bagged a silver medal in the U-18 girls' category. She also pocketed a gold medal in the team event in the same age group.
In the individual nine-round event, which is being organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka with the backing of the Asian Chess Federation, Saina won six games, drew two and suffered a single defeat — against top seed Mohammad Melika of Iran. Prachiti Chandratreya bagged the gold while Susmita Bhowmick finished with bronze in the category. Saina defeated the eventual gold medallist Pratichi during their encounter.
Players from 17 West Asian Countries had participated in the championship in different age categories starting from Under -8 to Under -18. Saina had won 19 international medals so far. Besides, she has achieved two Woman International Master norms.