Sattwik Swain (Khordha) and Shradhashree Lenka (Nayagarh) were crowned champions in open and girls categories respectively in the Odisha State Under-9 Chess Championship, which was held at Kalinga Bharati Residential College, Gopalpur, Cuttack from 17 to 19 August 2024.

Bhubaneswar boy Sattwik, who made Odisha proud by bagging the bronze medal in the U-8 Open category of the FIDE World Cup in Batumi, Georgia last month, claimed the State U-9 title, winning all of his eight games. Dhanuj A of Jagatsinghpur finished runner-up with 6.5 points.

In the girls category, Shradhashree emerged champion with 7.5 points from eight rounds. She won seven games and drew one. Anannya Annwesha Mishra (Khordha) settled as runner-up with 6.5 points.

A total of 105 players from different districts participated in the three-day championship. Top two finishers from each category qualified to represent Odisha in the upcoming National U-9 Championship to be held in Maharashtra from 15 to 23 November 2024.

REYANSH, ANANNYA WIN U-7 STATE TITLES: Reyansh Mallick (Cuttack) and Anannya Annwesha Mishra (Khordha) won the open and girls titles respectively in the Odisha State Under-7 Chess Championship, which also took place at Kalinga Bharati Residential College, Cuttack from 9 to 11 August 2024.

Reyansh Kumar Swain, (Jagatsinghpur) and Snehasmita Ram (Cuttack) finished runners-up in open and girls sections respectively. Champion and runner-up in both the categories became eligible to represent Odisha in the 37th National U-7 Championship to be held Mysore, Karnataka from 1 to 5 September 2024.

Both the State U-7 and U-9 Championships were organised by Kalinga Bharati Residential College (KBRC), under the aegis of All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA). Prize presentation ceremonies of both the tournaments were held together today.

Khordha MLA Prasanta Kumar Jagadev was the chief guest of the ceremony. Cuttack District Sports Officer Rashmi Ranjan Samantaray, KBRC Chairperson Lusy Mohapatra, KBRC Principal Ajay Kumar Mohanty, AOCA Secretary Debabrata Bhatta were present on the occasion.

FINAL STANDINGS (Top 10):

U-9 OPEN CATEGORY: 1. Sattwik Swain (Khordha, 7.5 points), 2. Dhanuj A (Jagatsinghpur, 6.5), 3. Satya Swarup Tripathy, (Khordha, 6.5), 4. Adya Advit Das (Khordha, 6), 5. Sayansh Das (Khordha, 6), 6. Jitesh Samal (Cuttack, 6), 7. Siddhartha Mallick (Khordha, 6), 8. Sahil Kumar Behera (Sundargarh, 6), 9. Parambrahma Rout P (Balasore, 6), 10. Raghav Biswal (Cuttack, 6).

U-9 GIRLS CATEGORY: 1. Shradhashree Lenka (Nayagarh, 8 points), 2. Anannya Annwesha Mishra (Khordha, 6.5), 3. Aditi Moharana (Khordha, 5.5), 4. Snehasmita Ram (Cuttack, 5.5), 5. Ritupragyna Mohapatra (Khordha, 5.5), 6. Preetika Pradhan (Khordha, 5.5), 7. Arnica Dash (Ganjam, 5), 8. Yashasree Swain (Khordha, 5), 9. Aryanshi Behera (Jajpur, 5), 10. Shrinika Nanda (Cuttack, 5).

U-7 OPEN CATEGORY: 1. Reyansh Mallick (Cuttack, 7.5 points), 2. Reyansh Kumar Swain, (Jagatsinghpur, 6.5), 3. Advik Routray (Khordha, 6), 4. Nishan Behera (Cuttack, 6), 5. Vihaan Shah (Cuttack, 6), 6. Riyansh Agarwal (Sundargarh, 6), 7. Kirti Ranjan Ghose (Mayurbhanja, 5.5), 8. Rudra Pratap Sahoo (Khordha, 5.5), 9. Adwik Swarup Naik (Khordha, 5.5), 10. Adharv Modi (Cuttack, 5).

U-7 GIRLS CATEGORY: 1. Anannya Annwesha Mishra (Khordha, 8 points), 2. Snehasmita Ram (Cuttack, 7), 3. Srujanee Sarangi (Khordha, 6), 4, Shrinika Nanda (Cuttack, 5), 5, Arya Mohanty (Cuttack, 5), 6, Samyra Swain (Cuttack, 5), 7. Aradhya Moharana (Khordha, 5), 8. Anwesha Aryanandini (Puri, 5), 9. Sushree Sangeeta Tripathy (Khordha, 4.5), 10. Bishalakshi Panigrahi (Puri, 4).
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PHOTO: Title winners and runners-up pose with guests and officials at the trophy presentation ceremony of the State U-7 and U-9 Chess Championships in Gopalpur, Cuttack on 19 August 2024.