SUBHASH MISHRA
Ranchi, June 9: Sridas Pirojiwala emerged champion of the one-day Under-19 Open Chess Championship organised by SERSA Chess Academy, Chakradharpur.

In the six-round tournament, which concluded on Sunday evening, Sridas secured the title with a perfect score of 6 points.

Three players — Ekansh, Sachin Mundia, and Lalit Kishore Bandra — finished with 5 points each. Based on progressive scores, Ekansh was awarded the runner-up trophy, while Sachin Mundia and Lalit Kishore claimed third and fourth positions, respectively.
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Dheeraj Kumar and Kenith Mukhi, with 4.5 points each, finished fifth and sixth. Samridhi Priya, scoring 4 points, was declared the best woman player of the tournament.
Category winners included:

- Under-14: Kanishk Mukhi
- Under-12: Aditya Burdhan Sharma
- Under-10: Arup Banti Sundi
- Under-8: Ved Ahuja
At the closing ceremony, Basant Khandelwal, General Secretary of the West Singhbhum District Chess Association, attended as the chief guest. Along with guests of honour Dr. S. Soren and Varun Ahuja, he presented trophies to the winners.
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Chief guest Khandelwal praised the organisers and recommended holding such tournaments regularly to provide exposure for young chess players.

Manideep Mukhi conducted the proceedings, while Vishwajeet Chatterjee delivered the vote of thanks. Among those present were Arpit Khirwal, Manish Sharma, Gautam Nayak, Kaushlendra Pathak, Kamal Deonath, Bharat Singh, and Shatrughan Singh.