Malaysia, Feb 28, 12.30PM – Sri Lanka’s chess team has brought home a bunch of medals from the Commonwealth Chess Championship held in Malaysia. They grabbed one gold medal, five silver medals, and five bronze medals in the tournament organized by the Malaysian Chess Federation and Persatuan Catur Melaka from February 20 to 27.
The young players from Sri Lanka stood out in various categories. In the Under-8 girls category, Sri Lanka swept the top three positions. Dihansa Perera took the gold with a score of 6.5/9 points, followed by Eleesha Fernando and Hasini Ranasinghe as first and second runners-up respectively.
Vaneesha Gomes secured the first runner-up position in the Under-10 girls category with an impressive 7.5/9 score. PY Wijesuriya became the 13th rank in the Commonwealth Open Championship, winning the first runner-up place with a score of 6/9.
Rashmitha Liyanage and Brijeash Saravanabaavan performed brilliantly in the Under-18 open category, securing first and second runner-up spots respectively. Esandi Newansa achieved the second runner-up spot in the Under-16 girls category with 6/9 points.
Vinuka Wijeratne clinched the first runner-up spot in the Under-12 category with 7.5/9 points, while Sethika Samaraweera secured the second runner-up position in the Under-10 category with 6/9 points.
In the Commonwealth Junior Blitz Chess Championship, Haritha Hansana claimed the second runner-up position with a score of 9/11 points. The tournament, which lasted eight days, saw participation from 11 countries including Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Malta, and Mauritius. Sri Lanka’s chess players have made their country proud with their outstanding performance.
