Sport - Chess   

Rohit shares top prize; India fourth

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 27. G. Rohit's consistent showing saw him share the top prize on the fourth board but India's unbeaten run was not enough to help it gain a medal in the World Youth (under-16) Chess Olympiad in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

In second spot overnight, fourth seed India defeated Australia `A' 2.5-1.5 in the 10th and final round but found itself pushed to the fourth place, behind champion China, top seed Ukraine and seventh seed Indonesia.

China, assured of the title after the penultimate round on Monday, defeated England 3-1 to finish with 31 points. Ukraine expectedly thrashed Malaysia `B' 4-0 to take the second spot with 27 points.

Indonesia, following its 3.5-0.5 victory over Iran, managed to overtake India by aggregating 26.5 points. India ended up justifying its seeding with 26 points.

According to information given to The Hindu from Kuala Lumpur by the coach-cum-manager of the Indian team, Mr. S. Vijaya Sarathy, India had its chances to beat Australia `A' 4-0 and claim the silver but things went wrong with Deep Sengupta losing and Deepan Chakravartty drawing on the second and first boards, respectively.

Rohit, who later shared the fourth-board prize with Ukraine's Natalia Zdebskaja, and Abhijit Gupta won their matches.

The Indian boys, who were in the second spot for most part of the 10-round championship, were understandably crestfallen after failing to make the medal-bracket. "We missed a medal and the boys are very disappointed,'' said a soft-spoken Mr. Sarathy.

Rohit, too, was not elated despite the fact that he scored a whopping 6.5 points from eight rounds. The Hyderabad youngster underplayed his personal achievement, saying, "missing the medal has made us all very sad.''

Even if India had tied with Ukraine or Indonesia, it could have won a silver or bronze by virtue of having beaten both these teams. Nevertheless, these inexperienced but talented boys can gain heart from the fact that they helped India remain unbeaten in the premier competition.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Athletics

• Selection hassles remain for AAFI
  
  Chess
  
• Rohit shares top prize; India fourth
  
  Cricket
  
• Kumble keeps up a great tradition
• Gough sorely missed
• India's best Test win abroad
• ICC gives BCCI Aug. 30 deadline
• West Indies tour: three-day match venues announced
  
  Golf
  
• Ranjit and Karan in the van
  
  Sports : General
  
• Sports Digest
• Padukone clarifies
  
  Tennis
  
• Bopanna made to sweat
• Serena, Agassi progress on emotional opening day
  
  

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu