Harika wins silver medal

Dronavalli Harika saved India of a medal drought by winning the silver medal in the World under-12 Girls' Chess Championship which concluded in Oropesa, Spain, on Friday evening.

It was left to Harika, after all, to get the medal as Saheli Nath, still smarting under the shock defeat of the penultimate round, lost again rather tamely to Shuyu Ding of China.

Tirls leader Shen Yang needed only a draw for her title and she achieved it quickly.

As Harika could not draw level even if she won her game against Katherine Pelletier of USA, her own draw became inevitable.

This is the second year in succession that Harika is winning a silver medal. Last year at this same venue she had finished second in the World under-10 category. She is a much improved player and already a feared opponent in her category.

The Georgians have taken the most gold medals. Of the ten on offer they carried away four, three of them by girls in the Under-14,16 and 18 categories.

The Georgian girls dominated the female categories. Additionally, they will be winning a number of silver and bronze medals when the calculations by the organisers are completed.

China and Hungary won two golds each while Ukraine and Russia accounted for one gold each. The Europeans will be pleased that they have broken Indian domination that came about in last year's World Youth Chess Festival in Spain.

Earlier report
No gold for India in under12 chess