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Bhubaneswar, June 27: Saina Salonika played out a draw with co-leader Mrudul Denhankar and both managed to hold on to their top positions after the completion of the fifth round in the U-12 girls’ category of the Commonwealth Chess Championships at New Delhi, Saturday.
Shreya Smruti Mohanty also played out a drab draw with Bidisha Roy. In the open category, Sambit Panda lost to Amitbhai Moksh Doshi and slipped to joint fourth along with 10 others with three points apiece.
In the U-14 girls’ category, Anwesha Mishra continued to shine and in the process outwitted Sanskriti Goyal in a tough match. With this victory, Anwesha held on to her top position along with Vantika Agarwal with 4.5 points each.
In the open category, Ansuman Samal checkmated Vinay Thomas Abraham to remain second with 4.5 points.
In the senior category, Orissa players had improved performances as Padmini Rout and Kiran Manisha Mohanty won their respective matches. Padmini prevailed over S Ajay Krishna, while Kiran Manisha swept aside Subhayan Kundu. However Rakesh Kumar Nayak lost to Sardanu Rishi. Padmini is lagging in the third spot along with 27 others with four points apiece.
In the U-10 girls’ category, Miracle Panda held S Vijaya Subhasri to a draw.
Rakesh in TOP Scheme
Oriss’s emerging gymnast Rakesh Patra has been identified as a potential medal winner for the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games and included in the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme by the central ministry of youth affairs and sports.
Rakesh was selected along with Ashis Kumar of Allahabad. The gymnasts will be provided with funds, competition exposure and training, under the scheme for preparation for the mega events.
Rakesh will qualify for the Rio Olympics if he performs well in the upcoming World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow.
Rakesh, who hails from Hadagadia Sahi of Puri was selected for the TOP scheme on the basis of his stellar performances at the national and international level in the recent past. He has so far won 11 international and 70 national medals.
“It’s certainly not a cakewalk to qualify for the Olympics. Rakesh has to compete with participants from China, America, Australia and Britain. The competition level is pretty tough. But considering the recent performances of Rakesh, there is every chance that he will qualify,” stated Rakesh’s coach Ashok Kumar Mishra.
Jeet enters semis
Jeet Das edged past Amiya Nayak in a close encounter to enter the semifinals of the All Orissa Handicap Snooker Championships here Saturday. Jeet beat Amiya 3-2 (50-66, 59-67, 62-47, 68-36, 71-36) in the first quarterfinal.
