KIIT International Chess fest from May 20
Bhubaneswar : Odisha’s only international chess tournament has been converted into 5th KIIT International Chess Festival which will be held at KIIT International School here from May 20 to 27, informed All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA) secretary Vivek Tibarwal in a Press Meet here on Sunday. For the first time the tournament to be played in three different categories. The players above 2200 rating will participate in the elite category, while, players below 2200 rating and 1800 rating will join in the platinum and premium categories respectively. As many as 22 GM (five Indian GM) and 80 title holders from 11 countries will fight for the title, said AOCA president Sekhar Chandra Sahu. Altogether 400 players are expected to participate in the seven-day-long meet. In this new format 10 Odisha players will get chance to play in the elite category, Sahu added.
The tournament carries highest cash prize the champion will receive Rs 3 lakhs and runners-up to be richer by Rs 2 lakhs. While the third, fourth, fifth, sixth finishers will get Rs 1 lakhs, Rs 75,000,Rs 50,000 and Rs 35,000 respectively. Among others, AOCA vice president KK Nath, KIIT register Sasmita Samanta, AOCA joint secretary Manoj Pattnaik, treasurer Saroj Kumar Behera and Khurda District Chess Association Subasis Mohanty were present. GM to participate: GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil (2645, GEO), GM Amonatov Farrukh (2616, TJK), GM Andriasian Zaven (2608 ARM), GM Pantsulaia levan (2563 GEO), GM Papin Vasily (2552 RUS), GM Timoshenko Georgy (2522 UKR), GM Abdulla Al-Rakib (2510 BAN), GM Rahman Ziaur (2498 BAN), GM Babujian levon (2488 ARM), GM Hossain Enamul (2487 BAN), GM Hoang Thanh Trang (2476 HUN), GM Fodor Tamas Jr. (2475 HUN), GM Harutjunyan Gevorg (2455 ARM), GM Petrosian Davit G. (2436 ARM), GM Yagupov Igor (2428 RUS), GM Ivanov Mikhail M (2392 RUS), GM Ziatdinov Raset (2348 USA), Indian; GM Kunte Abhijit (2507 IND ONGC), GM Neelotpal Das (2461 IND WB), GM Barua Dibyendu (2431 IND WB), GM laxman R.R. (2429 IND TN).
MP, UP win Sub-junior Soft Tennis titles
Bhubaneswar: Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh emerged champion in the boys and girls team categories respectively in the five-day-long 8th Sub-junior National Soft Tennis Championship, which concluded at KIIT University here on Sunday, being organised by KIIT University and Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India. In the team event runners-up trophies claimed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat in the boys and girls events respectively. Similarly, Tanmay of Uttar Pradesh and Amitha of Tamil Nadu bagged the boys and girls singles titles respectively. Anurag of the host State gathered the runners-up trophy in the boys singles category, Anurag and his partner Swastika won the boys doubles event runners-up title. As many as 15 teams, both boys’ and girls’, from all over India were particiapted in the championship. Odisha, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Tamilnadu, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Pondicherry, Goa, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi were the teams took part in the five-day sports meet. Results: Singles boys; Tanmay (Uttar Pradesh, champion), Anurag (Odisha, runners-up),Girls singles; Amitha (Tamil Nadu, champion), Anushka (Uttar Pradesp, runners-up), Team event Boys:Madhya Pradesh (champion), Tamil Nadu (runners-up), Team event girls; Uttar Pradesh (champion), Gujarat (runners-up), Mixed doubles; Saraa-Richi (Madhya Pradesh, champion), Anushkha-Abhya (Uttar Pradesh, runners-up), Doubles boys; Mushabbir-Aditya (Madhya Pradesh, champion), Swastik-Anurag (Odisha, runners-up), Doubles girls; Sapaa-Shailja (Madhya Pradesh, champion), Amitha-Krishna (Tamil Nadu, runners-up).
Super-league team spotted in U-14 cricket
Bhubaneswar : Balasore, Cuttack-A, Bhubaneswar-A, Rourkela, Cuttack-B and Bhubaneswar-B registered win in their respective leahue round matches and entered the super league round of the OCA Inter-District U-14 Cricket Tournament at different grounds in Cuttack on Sunday. Soumya Sourav Kumar and Surav Das of Bhubaneswar-A and B team scalped five wickets each and powered their teams to beat Deogarh and Boudh by five and seven wickets respectively. In other matches of the day, Cuttack-B, Rourkela, Cuttack-A and Balasore defeated Phulbani, Gajapati, Rayagada and Bargarh by seven, eight wickets, 50 runs and 134 runs respectively in different grounds.
Brief Score: At Ravenshaw Ground-1: Phulbani 56/10 in 17.1 overs (Anmol Biswal 3/13, Srikanta Behera 3/17, Shyam Sundar Tripathy 2/18) lost to Cuttack-B 57/3 in 17.1 overs (Dipti Ranjan Rath 22) by 7 wickets.
At Ravenshaw Ground-2: Gajapati 57/10 in 19.2 overs (Pritam Jena 2/5, Asir Khan 2/9, Chinmaya Acharya 2/11, Ankit Kar Jaiswal 2/13) lost to Rourkela 58/2 in 12.5 overs (Swastik Samal 23) by 8 wickets.
At Nimpur Ground:Cuttack-A 133/10 in 37.2 overs (Nikhil Barun 39, Prirtam Beura 34; Sameer Ali 4/25, Bhagyaban Rath 3/21, Sraban Bunga 2/19) beat Rayagada 83/9 in 40 overs (Tarini Tanaya Mahapatra 4/16, Abhirup Mohanty 3/12) by 50 runs. At Bidanasi Ground: Deogarh 82/10 in 23.3. overs (Sourav Das 5/21, Minal Parida 3/21) lost to Bhubaneswar-A 85/5 in 20.2 overs (Srijit Gangadev 3/28) by 5 wickets.
At SCB Medical College Ground: Balasore 189/8 in 40 overs (Subhasis Panda 42, Debang Patel 37; Swapnil Panda 2/38) beat Bargarh 55/10 in 18.3 overs (Bicky Bhumej 26 n.o; Arpit Barik 2/8, Abdul Makim Khan 2/9, Debang Patel 2/23) by 134 runs.
At Sunshine Ground: Boudh 54/10 in 21.2 overs (Soumya Sourav Kumar 5/21, Surykant Samal 3/11, Swarup Mahapatra 2/5) lost to Bhubaneswar-B 55/3 in 7.3 overs (Swarup Mahapatra 16) by 7 wickets.