Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 6: Raghav Srivathsav V of Telengana won the South Asian Amateur Chess Championship, organized by All J&K Chess Association, here today.
On the valedictory function, Minister for Health and Medical Education Bali Bhagat was the chief guest, who presented the cash awards to the players in presence of Additional CEO Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Piyush Singla and Shiv Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary, J&K Sports Council, who were guests of honour. Rajan Sharma, Divisional Sports Officer Jammu, Ravi Singh, Manager MA Stadium, Dr Harleen Kour and Dr Sandeep Singh were special guests.
Atul Kumar Gupta, President AJKCA, Joint secretary, All India Chess Federation, Ashiq Ahmad Kolu, General Secretary, AR Wani, Senior Vice President AJKCA, Baldev Raj and Taranvir Singh, Vice Presidents, Khalid Amin, Treasurer, Kuljeet Jamwal, Press Secretary, Vikas Nanda, Coordinator, Dr AS Bhatia, Advisor, Iftiqar Rashid Wani, Joint Secretary, Raj Kumar and Rakesh Gupta were also present on the occasion.
A cash prize of Rs 2 lakh alongwith medal and trophy was presented to Raghav Srivathsav, while Suresh PK of Kerala won the second prize and cash prize of Rs 1.25 lakh along-with medal and trophy presented to him.
S Mithilesh Kumar of Delhi won the third prize and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh alongwith medal and trophy was presented to him.
Among J&K players, Meenal Gupta kept the State flag high and was top scorer with seven points out of 9 and remained undefeated in the whole event. She won best U-15 girls prize.
Cash prizes worth Rs 10 lakh were distributed among the winners alongwith trophies and medals. Cash prizes were given upto 55 positions and also among social categories.
The main sponsor of the event was J&K State Sports Council, while Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board also supported this event.
Minister while speaking said that the efforts of All J&K Chess Association for organizing such historic event in J&K will go a long way in promoting tourism in J&K and give good message to the world about hospitality of J&K.
Fourteen professional Arbiters are working for smooth conduct of this event, while Srivatsan R has been appointed by Asian Chess Federation as Chief Arbiter.
Around 430 players and 200 coaches, managers and officials from 28 States of India are participating in the Championship. Players from Nepal and Bangladesh are also participating in this event. Around 45 J&K State players are also participating in the Competition.
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