Former champion Nepali hangs on to lift trophy

Lalitpur, December 9:

Former Nepal champion Badri Lal Nepali won the Shankhadhar Sakhwa Memorial Nationwide Open Chess Tournament after holding Uttam Raj Thapa for a draw in the ninth and the final round here today.

The draw gave him a total of 8.5 points, one more than four other players. Ganesh Man Duwal finished second with 47 progressive points. Other three players — Uttam Raj Thapa, Prem Krishna Maharjan and reigning Nepal champion Keshav Shrestha — also accumulated 7.5 points but finished third, fourth and fifth on inferior progressive points.

Thapa had 45.5 progressive points, while Maharjan finished with 42.5 and Shrestha 40 points. With the championship, Nepali received Rs 30,000, while Duwal and Thapa got Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

In the women’s section, Monalisa Khambu defeated Binita Kapali in the final round to win the title with six points and received Rs 15,000. Shanta Thapa defeated Bina Jaiswal, while Tara Ghale beat Puja Simkhada to finish with 5.5 points each.

Thapa came second with 22.5 progressive points, while Ghale was confined to third position with 22 progressive points. Thapa and Ghale received Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.

A total of 115 players — 85 in men’s and 33 in women’s section — took part in the tournament.