Woman Fide Master (WFM) Saina Salonika of Odisha added another feather to her cap on Monday when she clinched Individual Silver Medal and Team Gold Medal in the Western Asian Youth Chess Championship.
The tournament was organised by the Sri Lankan Chess Federation on behalf of Asian Chess Federation in online mode in Tornelo website from September 18 to 20. Players from 17 West Asian Countries had participated in the Youth Championship in different age categories starting from Under -8 to Under -18
Saina bagged the Silver medal in the Under -18 Girl Category. In the nine-round tournament, Saina won six games, drew two games and lost one game from the top seed Mohammad Melika of Iran. Prachiti Chanratreya bagged the Gold and Susmita Bhowmick bagged the Bronze. Saina also defeated the eventual Gold Medalist Pratichi during their encounter. Saina also bagged the Team Gold Medal for India in the same age category.Hailing from Sulan village of Hatadihi block in Keonjhar district, Saina stays with her father Ganeswar Jena and mother Babita Jena in
Bhubaneswar and has just completed her Class-XII study from the KIIT International School. She has also achieved two Woman International Master norms till date.