CM Nitish Belurkar and WCM Swera Ana Braganca of Tiswadi Taluka clinched the U-17 State open and girls titles respectively.
the goan I network
PANAJI
In the open category, Geno Brand Ambassador Nitish beat Vernon Colaco of Salcete Taluka in the final round to clinch the title with a clean sweep of 8 points from 8 rounds. On the second board, Anant Prabhudesai of Mushtifund Higher Secondary School beat Vraj Porob to finish runner-up with 7 points.
Swayam Naik of Ponda taluka beat Ishan Pagi to remain in the third spot with 6.5 points. Sairaj Vernekar of Salcete taluka with his better tie-breaks finished fourth with 6 points ahead of Devesh Anand Naik of Ponda taluka and Ayush Shirodkar from Salcete taluka also with 6 points to finish fifth and sixth accordingly.
In the girls category, Geno ambassador Swera, a student of Green Rosary School, made a hat-trick by winning the U-17 Girls State Championship for the third consecutive year. In the final deciding round, she snatched the victory from Tanvi Hadkonkar in a minus position and scored 5.5 from 6 rounds to
remain unbeaten.
Another Geno ambassador Gunjal also remained unbeaten with 5.5 points but had to settle for second place due to her lower tie-break score. Swera and Gunjal had clashed with each other in the fourth round and decided to draw.
On the third board Sanvi Naik Gaonkar of Canacona taluka beat Sainee NF Desai to score 4 points and to remain in third place with a better tie-break score. Sarah Gayle Fernandes also with 4 points finished fourth. Tanvi Hadkonkar and Netra Sawaikar finished fifth and sixth.
The top two players in each category are selected to represent Goa at U-17 All India Nationals to be held at Coimbatore in October.
