Cuttack kids Swastik Suvam Patnaik and Jyotika Sahoo captured the open and girls titles respectively in the Odisha State Under-7 Chess Championship, which was held at Hotel Monalisa, Badambadi here from 26 to 28 April, 2019.

Swastik scored 6.5 points out of a possible seven in the open category with six wins and a draw to his name. Khurda boys Abhijit Biswal and Shiyam Satyansh finished second and third with six and 5.5 points respectively.

Jyotika topped the table in girls category, gathering 6.5 points from seven rounds. Ishani Das and Ripple Panda (both Khurda) secured the second and third positions with six and five points respectively.

A total of 71 players from five districts participated in the championship, which was organised by Master Chess Foundation, under the aegis of All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA).

AOCA secretary Debabrata Bhatta inaugurated the tournament, while AOCA vice-president Ranjan Mohanty graced the closing ceremony as chief guest. Eminent chess coach Satya Ranjan Patnaik, international arbiter Suresh Chandra Sahoo, chief arbiter Santosh Kumar Mohapatra and MCF Founder Bikram Keshari Biswal were present at the prize presentation ceremony.

Top two finishers of both the categories qualified to represent Odisha in the National U-7 Chess Championship, scheduled to be held at New Town School, Kolkatta from 1 to 6 June 2019.

FINAL PLACINGS (Top 10):

OPEN: 1. Swastik Suvam Patnaik (Ctc, 6.5), 2. Abhijit Biswal (Khor, 6), 3. Shiyam Satyansh (Khor, 5.5), 4. Jayaditya Padhy (Ctc, 5), 5. Arka Mishra (Ctc, 5), 6. Umang Nahar (Ctc, 5), 7. Ayushmaan Samantaray (Khor, 5), 8. Pratik Kushal Rout (Ctc, 5), 9. Vihan Reddy (Ctc, 5), 10. Arnav Biswal (Ctc, 5).

GIRLS: 1. Jyotika Sahoo (Ctc, 6.5), 2. Ishani Das (Khor, 6), 3. Ripple Panda (Khor, 5), 4. Aradhya Dash (Ctc, 5), 5. Aishwarya Sahoo (Ctc, 4.5), 6. Ritika Jena (Ctc, 4.5), 7. Harshita Singh (Ctc, 4.5), 8. Adyasha Jena (Ctc, 4), 9. Shreyanshi Nayak (Khor, 4), 10. Achella Nidhi Mohanty (Khor, 4).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Prize winners with guests and tournament officials in Cuttack on 28 April, 2019.