Odisha Girl Bags Gold in Asian Youth Rapid Chess Championship

Bhubaneswar: Woman Fide Master Saina Salonika brought honor and pride for Odisha and country by turning as the champion in Asian Youth Rapid Chess Championship held at Chiang Mai city on 1 April 2018 in Thailand.

Saina scored six points from seven rounds which helped her to win the gold medal in the under-16 girl category. Nomindalai Tumurbatar of Mongolia won the silver while Mahdavi Mahadis of Iran clinched the bronze medal. Both of them scored 5.5 points each.

As many as 4 players from India participated in the tournament. They are Ashna Makhija, Tejasvi M., Sanskriti Goel and Saina Salonika. Saina competed with more than 30 players in her category and finally clinched the Gold medal.   

Saina, the daughter of Ganeswar Jena and Babita Jena, is now a Class-X student of the KIIT International School in Bhubaneswar. She is the youngest FIDE rated girl of Odisha and youngest girl of the state to get Women Candidate Master (WCM) 

This is the 13th international medal for Saina . Earlier, she had won gold medal and became the world champion in U-10 girl category in the World Youth Chess Championship at Al Ain in UAE in 2013. 

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated Saina for her achievement in Asian Championship.