Post News Network
Cuttack, Jan 17: Narayan Swain is taking the sole lead with five points in the senior category after the completion of the fifth round of the Cuttack District Chess Championships at the Barabati Stadium Indoor Hall here Sunday.
Ashirwad Swain and Smaraki Mohanty are sharing the joint second spot with 4.5 points each. In a fifth round match, Narayan outwitted Ranjan Mohanty. Meanwhile Ashirwad forced Smaraki to share points with him.
In the junior category, three players are sharing the top spot with five points each. They are Vaibhav Singh, Nilsu Pattnaik and Aryan Arnav Samantray. Sarthak Debata is in the second position with 4.5 points in his kitty. Nilsu defeated Shreyash Subham Patnaik, while Vaibhav prevailed over Sumit Biswal. Aryan made mincemeat of S Indrajeet and Sarthak triumphed over Ankita Sahoo.
Bhadrak advance
Bhadrak entered the super league of the Sumit Bose Memorial OCU U-16 cricket tournament after beating Phulbani by four wickets in a league match at the Sunshine Ground here Sunday.
Opting to bat first, Phulbani were bowled out for a paltry 127 in 35.1 overs. Kishan Manohar Mohanty (4/31) and Rashmi Ranjan Mahakud (3/23) bowled well for Bhadrak.
In reply Bhadrak knocked off the target in 24.2 overs for the loss of six wickets with Abinash Singh (38) emerging as the highest scorer. Ashis Behera (3/41) bowled well for Phulbani. The super league stage will start with eight teams from Monday.