Kruttika qualifies for WC

National champion Kruttika Nadig beat Woman Grandmaster Nisha Mohota in the final round to win the Asian Zone 3.2 women’s title and a berth in the next World Cup. In a dramatic final round on Saturday, another title contender, Bangladesh national champion Sultana Sharmin Shirin, surprisingly lost her seventh round encounter against unheralded Sri Lankan player Sachini Ranasinghe.

That meant Nisha needed just a draw against Kruttika to ensure the title. But the Pune-based Kruttika, needing a win for the title, went all out in an attacking Ruy Lopez opening and sealed the victory and a place in World Cup in 64 moves. Nisha Mohota and top seed Tania Sachdev tied for the second spot with 4 points each but a better tie-break score helped Tania to finish second while Nisha had to be satisfied with a third spot finish.

Meanwhile, in the men’s section, local hope Sriram Jha took the sole lead with eight points after outwitting Gillani Tunveer of Pakistan in the 10th round encounter. Looking for his second GM norm and a World Cup berth, Jha overcome his Pakistani rival in 37 moves. Veteran grandmaster Praveen Thipsay and second seed Deepan Chakkravarthy were closely following the leader and are just half a point behind.

In the 10th round encounter, Thipsay beat Neelotpal Das after 51 moves in Sicilian Defence while Deepan had it easy against Kesav Malla of Bhutan.