India started their campaign at the Asian Youth Chess Championships in Teheran on a positive note with most of their players pocketing a victory in the first round.

Y. Sandeep, B. Adhiban, S. Nitin and K. Priyadarshan [Images] were among the leaders in the boys' under-14 category, with all of them managing one point in their first round.

In under-14 girls, top seed Bhakti Kulkurni, Laxmi Sahiti and Pallabi Roywon won their first round matches. However, Pon. Kruttika was shocked by unrated Huang Thi Nu Y of Vietnam.

The Indians are a force to reckon with in the boys' under-12 category with as many as 12 of them among the top-13 seeds.

Top seed Vidit Gujarathi, V A V Rajesh, and Prasanna Rao are among the leaders as 11 Indians scored first round wins.

Gujarathi can expect tough competition from his second seeded compatriot Rajesh and Iranian hope Hosseinipour Mehdi in this age group.

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In the girls' section of the same category, V. Srilakshmi and Mohana Priya justified their top billing by winning the first round matches. Fourth seed Padmini Raut and sixth seed Priyanka Kumari also registered victories.

There could be strong competition for the Indians in this group from the Iranian and Vietnamese players.

In the boys' under-10 section, Indians recorded a clean sweep with all the eight Indian entrants, led by top three seeds M L Abhilash Reddy, R Eswar and G V Krishna, managing full points from their first round encounter.

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