CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Grandmaster Pa Iniyan and Sammed Jayakumar Shete of Maharashtra shared the lead with six points each at the end of the seventh round of the 15th Chennai Open International GM Chess tournament. Eleven players, including the top seed Aronyak Ghosh of Railways and the second-seeded GM Siddharth Jagadeesh of Singapore, have scored 5.5 points each.
In the Grand prix attack of the Sicilian defence, Iniyan allowed Vijay Shreeram of Tamil Nadu to gain a mild advantage initially. He managed to achieve neutrality later and slowly converted a drawn game in his favour.
Paddler Hansini triumphs
Tamil Nadu’s M Hansini claimed her maiden U-19 girls’ singles title with a 4-2 victory over Haryana’s Suhana Saini in the UTT 86th Junior and Youth National Championships at the SAMA Indoor Complex. The electrifying final saw both players leveraging their strong backhands, punctuated by well-placed forehands and thrilling rallies, keeping the audience on edge.
Ganesh stands out
An unbeaten 46 by S Ganesh paved the way for Chengalpattu to beat Coimbatore by three wickets in the final of the TNCA-SS Rajan Trophy T20 tournament.
Brief scores: At Coimbatore: Final: Coimbatore 142/8 in 20 ovs (J Kousik 38, V Sanjeev Kumar 3/26) lost to Chengalpattu 144/7 in 19.1 ovs (S Ganesh 46 n.o). MoM: S Ganesh. Player of the Tournament: J Suresh Kumar (Coimbatore).
Shrinithi captures four
SG Shrinithi’s 4 for 20 propelled Tamil Nadu to defeat Manipur by six wickets in the BCCI Women U-19 one day trophy played at Indore.
Brief scores: Manipur 124/9 in 20 ovs (Alice Thokchom 27 n.o; SG Shrinithi 4/20) lost to Tamil Nadu 125/4 in 22.1 ovs (Anurakini 37, Madhumitha Anbu 25 n.o; T Nilky Devi 3/46).
TN women lose by 5 wickets
Janaki Rathod (3/10) and Maitri Maniar (3/7) took six wickets among themselves to enable Baroda to beat Tamil Nadu by five wickets in the BCCI-Women U-23 T20 trophy Group B league round match played played at Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur.
Brief scores: TN 74/8 in 20 ovs (Janki Rathod 3/10, Maitri Maniar 3/7) lost to Baroda 78/5 in 18.2 ovs (C Shushanthika 3/18).
Hithesh cracks century
D Hithesh’s hard-hitting century (136) helped Olive Tree Global beat Great Harvest in the CSK-Thiruvallur DCA U-15 inter-school meet.
Brief scores: Olive Tree Global 249/3 in 30 ovs (S Dhanvin 46, D Hithesh 136, J Juhaim Sulthan 30 n.o) bt Great Harvest 94 in 25.4 ovs (S Dhanvin 4/24, J Juhaim Sulthan 3/12).