Khordha district bagged a double with Aditi Moharana and Sattwick Swain winning titles in girls and open categories respectively at the Odisha State Under-7 Chess Championships, which concluded at Infocity, Patia, Bhubaneswar today.

Aditi won all of her seven games to emerge girls champion with full seven points, while her Khordha district-mate Anannya Annwesha Mishra finished runner-up with 5.5 points.

Sattwick, also from Khordha district, bagged the open title, scoring 6.5 points from seven rounds. Cuttack Advik Aditya Swain settled as runner-up with six points.

Top two finishers in both the categories qualified to represent Odisha in the 36th National Under-7 Chess Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Eastern Railway Sports Academy Complex, Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal from 21s to 27 September 2023.

A total of 87 players participated in the two-day State U-7 Championship, which was organized by Master Chess Foundation (MCF), in collaboration with IIG Sports Academy, under the aegis of All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA).

All India Chess Federation Joint Secretary Ranjan Mohanty graced the closing ceremony as chief guest. AOCA Secretary Debabrata Bhatta, Treasurer Shankar Prasad Mishra, SR Chess Centre Director Satya Ranjan Pattnaik, Tournament Director Suresh Chandra Sahoo, Chief Arbiter Santosh Kumar Mohapatra, MCF Founder Bikram Keshari Biswal and chairman Santosh Kumar Mohapatra were present on the occasion.

FINAL RANKINGS (Top 10):

GIRLS: 1. Aditi Moharana (Khordha, 7 points), 2. Anannya Annwesha Mishra (Khordha, 5.5), 3. Vaanya Das (Khordha, 5), 4. Snehasmita Ram (Cuttack, 5), 5. Swastika Sahoo (Cuttack, 5), 6. Divisha Swain (Cuttack, 4.5), 7. Aryanshi Behera (Jajpur, 4), 8. Mahasweta Singh (Cuttack, 4), 9. Pranjali Pati (Khordha, 4), 10. Mishika Chandak (Cuttack, 4).

OPEN: 1. Sattwik Swain (Khordha 6.5 points), 2. Advik Aditya Swain (Cuttack, 6), 3. Sahil Kumar Behera (Sundargarh, 6), 4. Sayansh Das (Cuttack, 5.4), 5. Aditya Shankar Behera (Khordha, 5), 6. Siddhartha Mallick (Khordha, 5), 7. Raghav Biswal (Cuttack, 5), 8. Satya Narayan Swain (Kendrapara, 5), 9. Hardik Kumar Sahoo (Cuttack, 5), 10. Riyansh Raj Dalabehera (Khordha, 5).
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PHOTO: Top two finishers in girls and open categories of the Odisha State U-7 Chess Championship pose with guests and tournament officials in Bhubaneswar on 27 August 2023.