Kasturi races ahead

KOZHIKODE, JULY 19. India's M. Kasturi is looking unstoppable in Teheran. With just two rounds remaining, she has a handsome lead of 1.5 points over her nearest rivals after the ninth round of the Asian junior chess championship on Wednesday. The fifth seed is currently on 7.5 points, after her drawn encounter with Y. Khachatorian.

On six points are three players, including two Indians - top seed S. Meenakshi and third seed Tania Sachdev. M. Ovezova is the other player in the joint second position. Nimmy A. George, the fourth Indian girl in the competition, has 4.5 points.

In the boys' event too, it looks a one-horse race at the moment, as fifth seed Nguyen Thahn Son moved further ahead, with eight points, following his ninth round victory against India's P. Magesh Chandran. Magesh's teammate, M.R. Venkatesh, also lost his game, against M. Darban, and remains on 6.5 points.

Half-a-point behind are Darban and the two Indians - top seed Pendyala Harikrishna, the disappointment of the tournament, and K. Ratnakaran, who is making an impressive international debut. In the ninth round, Ratnakaran, seeded a lowly 13th, held Harikrishna to a draw. Chennai-based S. Kidambi took his tally to five points, after drawing with second seed E. Ghaem Maghami.

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Section  : Sport
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