It was valiant effort from our U10 Open and U18 Girls Junior players at the FIDE Cadets and Youth Championship that started on 1st August which ended yesterday after 10 rounds of Rapid play. In the U10 Open category, a total of 227 players from all over the world took part in the 5 day event and Malaysia was represented by Kavin Mohan, Lee Yun Rui and newcomer Muhd Ismakhaizuran Khomisajie. For the U18 Girls category, Malaysia was represented by WCM Chua Jia-Tien, Nur Faiqah Aminuddin and Nur Batrisyia Wafa Mohsen amongst the 104 players participating.

In the U10 category, Kavin had a strong start securing 4 points from 4 rounds but could not keep up the momentum losing in Round 5 and Round 7 in the next 2 days of play. There was a glimpse of hope when he won his 9th round game on the final day of the event but it was not meant to be when he lost the final round to end in 16th place with 7 points. It was a commendable outing and a strong finish for Kavin considering the strong field of players that he had to face. Malaysia other players – Yun Rui and Ismakhaizuran, ended the tournament in 115th and 141st placing respectively with the former securing 5 points and the latter 4.5 points. Khagan Ahmad of Azerbaijan secured the top spot followed by Kazakhstan Mark Smirnov and Argentina’s Agustin Duarte in the 3rd spot.

For the Girls U18 category, WCM Chua Jia-Tien missed the cut by a single spot although she had secured 7 points out of 10 rounds to end in 11th spot. Her score alone would have qualified her to the next round but due to her lower tie break score, she ended up being the only 7 pointer to be cut out from the final knock out stage. Jia-Tien had a strong finish in the event when she scored 4 consecutive wins from Round 7 to Round 10 but the effort was not enough to cross the finish line. Our other ladies in the event – Nur Faiqah, ended in 65th spot with 4.5 points followed by Nur Batrisya in 75th spot and a half point behind. Vietnam’s Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong secured the top spot followed by Aliaksandra Tarasenka of Bulgaria and Ayan Allahverdiyeva of Azerbaijan.

And the battle continues…..

Starting from tonight until 10th August 2021, our U12 Open players – Poh Yu Tian, Anderson Ang Ern Jie and Lai Hong Jun, together with our U16 Girls players – WCM Sim Jia Ru, Ong Zhiwei and Farihah Nur Aisyah Mohd Azman, will battle it out to earn the rights to brag in their respective age category. A total of 201 players in the U12 Open category and 110 players in the U16 Girls category.

Good Luck Team and ALL THE BEST!

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