Unbeaten Ivana finishes 7th; Goan duo qualify for National Women Premier
TEAM?HERALD
sports@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: WGM Bhakti Kulkarni (2271) staged a fantastic comeback as she beat former National women’s champion Nisha Mohota of Petroleum Board in the 11th and final round to clinch the bronze medal in National Women’s Challengers chess championship at Thissur, Kerala.
Bhakti fought back after the initial upsets and beat IM Nisha in 71 moves. She finished joint second alongwith WGM Swati Ghate but was placed third due to a lower buchholz tie-break. She won seven games, drew and lost two respectively.
Bhakti whose brilliant efforts in Korea helped Indian win two medals in Asian Indoor Games, was a bit tired and started badly losing second round on time. However with everything at stake, Goa’s WGM rallied with a number of wins towards the end and stood third.
“It was astounding achievement. Everybody had written Bhakti off,” said Gokhale, Bhakti’s trainer from Mumbai. “She proved that tired or not tired, a champion is always a champion – especially in adverse conditions.”
Bhakti credited her triumph to Gokhale. “He prepared me thoroughly everyday and despite me losing all hope midway he repeatedly told me not to give up and painstakingly picked up perfect strategies for me. This would not have been possible without him”.
Meanwhile, National junior champion WIM Ivana Maria Furtado (2080) stood seventh with a score of 7.5 points. WIM Ivana Maria Furtado stood joint third position with 7.5 points and was placed seventh due to an inferior buchholz tie-break. She remained unbeaten in the tournament with four wins and seven draws. She held WGM Swati Ghate of LIC in the seventh round and Soumya Swaminathan of IOC in the eighth.
Ivana, who last month became the junior national champion, put up a brave show in the championship and her performance with respect to her age is commendable and promising.
Both Bhakti and Ivana have qualified for National Women Premier Championship as the top eight players automatically qualify for the championship. This is the first time two Goan girls have qualified for the Women national premier.
WGM Soumya Swaminathan of IOC became champion with 9 points and WGM Swati Ghate of LIC stood second.
WCM Riya Sawant scored 6.5 points and stood 27th in the championship.
Sakshi Naik Gaonkar, Aditi Prabhugaonkar and Urvi Bandekar scored five points each. Gauri Hadkonkar and Gunjal Chopdekar tallied 4.5 points each.
The president of Goa Chess Association Vinay Tendulkar, secretary Kishor Bandekar and all executive committee members of the association have congratulated WGM Bhakati Kulkarni for securing the bronze medal and WIM Ivana Furtado for qualifying for the National Premier tournament to be held in Kolkata from August 25 to September 5.
