Al Ain: The UAE won two gold medals in the Western Asia Youth Rapid Chess Championship at the Hili Rayhaan Rotana Hotel in Al Ain on Saturday. Al Maamari Wafia Darwish and Latifah Darmaki, both of Al Ain, won gold medals in the girls under-14 and under-10 categories, respectively.
Competing in the tournament organised by the Al Ain Chess Club under the auspices of the Asian and UAE Chess Federations and Abu Dhabi Sports Council are 150 players from 14 countries namely India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstanm, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and host the UAE.
Tournaments were conducted for age groups under-8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years separately among boys and girls. Dr Saif Al Nuaimi, general secretary of the Al Ain Chess Club and tournament director Tarek Al Taher gave away the awards.
Following is the list of medallists: Boys’ Under-18: Gold - Molaei Mohammad Amin of Iran, Silver Altaher Saeed Tarek of UAE and Bronze Weerasinghe C C of Sri Lanka; Boys’ Under-16: Gold - Doluweera Minul Sanjula of Sri Lanka, Silver - Mohammad Marshool of UAE and Bronze - Thilakarathne G M S of Sri Lanka; Boys’ Under-14: Gold - Sezdbekov Ruslan of Kyrguzstan, Silver - Saberi Mahan of Iran, Bronze - Piyumantha M Sasith Nipun of Sri Lanka; Boys’ Under-12: Gold - Zomorrodian Eilia of Iran, Silver - Piyumantha M Thisal Manjith of Sri Lanka and Bronze - Ammar Sedrani of UAE; Boys’ Under 10: Gold - Raji Sayel Abu Azizah of Palestine, Silver - Abdulrahman Mohammad Al Taher of UAE and Bronze - Khalifah Khaled of UAE; Boys Under-8: Gold - Bhagat Kush of India, Silver - Wickramarathne T D of Sri Lanka and Bronze - Soud Jaber of UAE; Girls’ Under-8: Gold - Galagedara Thehara T Vakeesan of Sri Lanka, Silver - Rouda Essa Alserkal of UAE and Bronze - Serikbay Amina of Kazakhstan; Girls’ Under-10: Gold - Latifah Darmaki of UAE, Silver - Mahjoob Zardast Artemis of Iran and Bronze - Almaamari Zainab Darwish of UAE; Girls’ Under-12: Gold - Kodikara K K M Sachintha, Silver - Shah Jiya of India and Bronze - Fatima Al Wahabi of UAE; Girls’ Under-14: Gold - Al Maamari Wafia Darwish of UAE, Silver - Tharushi T H D Niklesha of Sri Lanka and Bronze - Amal Fadel S M Alshamsi of UAE; Girls’ Under-16: Tied for Gold - Wickramasinghe Dilhara Ishini of Sri Lanka and Peiris H Pevinya of Sri Lanka and Bronze - Ruwaida Saad Mohsin Al Naseri of Iraq; Girls’ Under-18: Gold - Methmani Nelunika of Sri Lanka; Silver - Mendis Dasuni Hansika of Sri Lanka; Bronze - Nadalipour Golnaz of Iran.