Seven Indian players qualify for World Cup
New Delhi: India’s top-seeded Grandmaster Nihal Sarin put in a brilliant performance to finish runner-up in the Asian Individual Chess Championship.
The Asian Individual Chess Championship was held at the Danat Resort in Al Ain, UAE, from May 7 to 15 in both the open and women’s categories. A total of 154 players from 33 countries participated in the open category. In the women’s category, 100 players from 33 countries fought for supremacy on the continent.
Top-seeded Grandmaster Nihal Sarin ended the Asian Individual Chess Championship (Open Category) in a grand manner with a convincing win over Grandmaster Daneshwar Bardia of Iran. However, he could not equal Daneshwar’s tie-break score and had to settle for a silver medal. Uzbekistan’s Vokhidov Shamsiddin won the bronze medal.
India dominated the continent by securing six places in the top ten. The remaining four places went to Russia (two), Iran (one) and Uzbekistan (one). The tournament was of great importance worldwide as it was a major qualifier for the World Chess Championship to be held later in the year.
With their brilliant performances in the tournament, as many as seven Indians – Nihal Sarin, P Inian, R Raja Rithvik, S L Narayanan, M Pranesh, G B Harshvardhan and Murali Karthikeyan – qualified for the 2025 World Cup.
L R Srihari became the third and final Grandmaster in the tournament, fulfilling the requirements for the Grandmaster title. G B Harshvardhan achieved her second Grandmaster norm in the tournament.
However, India did not fare as well in the women’s category. In the top spot, Olympiad gold medallist Vantika Agarwal scored a clinical win over Mongolia’s Munguzul But-Erden, paving the way for Sreeja Seshadri, who had the best tiebreak, to win the gold medal. However, Sreeja was unable to make it through the strong play of Russia’s experienced Valentina Gunina. As a result, China’s Song Yuxin – who rarely came in first place – emerged as the surprise winner in the tournament, winning the crown on a good tiebreak.
Kazakhstan’s Zhenya Balabayeva won the bronze medal behind Mongolia’s Munguzul. Vantika Agarwal and Sreeja Seshadri had to settle for fourth and fifth place respectively.
The Indian men’s team players are guided by Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay.
