Aditi Moharana (Khordha) and Manish Mishra (Jajpur) were crowned champions in girls and open category respectively at the Odisha State U-8 Chess Championship, which concluded at Narayan e-Techno School, Hi-Tech Hospital Road, Pandra, Bhubaneswar today.

In the two-day championship, which was organised by Master Chess Foundation (MCF), under the aegis of All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA), Aditi and Sai Vidhi Tripathy (Cuttack) tied for the top honour with five points each from six rounds in girls category. Eventually, Aditi was declared champion on tie-break score, while Sai settled as runner-up.
In the open category, Manish emerged undisputed champion with full six points, while Debapriya Biswa (Sundargarh) finished runner-up with five point.

Top two finishers in both girls and open category were selected to represent Odisha in the MPL 34th National U-8 Open & Girls Chess Championships, scheduled to be held in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh from 9th to 14th May 2022.

All India Chess Federation Joint- Secretary, Ranjan Mohanty graced the valedictory function of the State U-8 Championship as chief guest. AOCA Secretary Debabrata Bhatta, Triple-C Chess Club Secretary, Biranchi Narayan Sahoo, MCF Founder Bikram Keshari Biswal joined as guests of honour. Also present on the occasion were: MCF Chairman Santosh Kumar Mohapatra and Chief Arbiter Suresh Chandra Sahoo.

FINAL RANKINGS (Top 10):

GIRLS: 1. Aditi Moharana (Khordha, 5 points), 2. Sai Vidhi Tripathy (Cuttack, 5), 3. Samina Swain (Cuttack, 4), 4. Arnica Dash (Khordha, 3), 5. Shrejal Senapati (Khordha, 3), 6. Jashrita Mishra (Cuttack, 3), 7. Vaanya Das (Khordha, 2), 8. Ritupragyan Mohapatra (Khordha, 2), 9. Adyasmaranya Panda (Cuttack, 1).

OPEN: 1. Manish Mishra (Jajpur, 6 points), 2. Debapriya Biswal (Sundargarh, 5), 3. Jitesh Samal (Cuttack, 4), 4. Mrigank Sekhar Das (Khordha, 4), 5. P Parambrahma Rout  (Cuttack, 4), 6. A Dhanuj (Jagatsinghpur, 3), 7. Shreyansh Das (Cuttack, 3), 8. Advik Aditya Swain (Cuttack, 3), 9. Arav Das (Khordha, 3), 10. Satyajeet Senapati (Khordha, 3).
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PHOTO: (Front L-R) girls runner-up Sai Vidhi Tripathy, champion Aditi Moharana, open champion Manish Mishra and runner-up Debapriya Biswal. (Back L-R): Chief Arbiter Suresh Chandra Sahoo, Triple-C Chess Club Secretary Biranhi Narayan Sahoo, AOCA Secretary Debabrata Bhatta, AICF Joint-Secretary Ranjan Mohanty, MCF Founder Bikram Keshari Biswal,  and MCF Chairman Santosh Kumar Mohapatra.