JOIN USSahaj Grover fought hard but had to settle for a draw with Yaroslav Zherebukh of Ukraine to bow out of medal contention in the World Junior Chess Championship after the 12th and penultimate round that concluded here.
A bronze medallist last time, 16-year-old Sahaj gave a good shot in the opening but fell wayward as the game progressed and in the end was lucky to escape with a half point that signalled the end of his medal aspirations.
At the top of the table, Richard Rapport of Hungary and Alexander Ipatov of Turkey remained in joint lead on 9.5 points following draws in contrasting fashion.
With two leaders on 9.5 points, Ding Liren of China and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan remain within striking distance of the title a half point behind.
Chinese duo of Yu Yangyi and Wei Yi and Nils Grandelius of Sweden are also in with a chance for a podium finish on 8.5 points provided they get a positive result in the final round. Grover remains the best performing Indian with eight points.
In the girls’ championship, Guo Qi of China emerged as the sole leader after a day of upsets. The Chinese girl accounted for Jovana Vojinovic of Montenegro to go a half point clear of nearest contenders.
Among Indians in the open section, Debashish Das succumbed to his third straight loss after making his maiden Grandmaster norm. Das went down to Salem A R Saleh of UAE.
It turned out to be a decent outing for Indian girls as Bhakti Kulkarni played out a draw with Andrea Paula Rodriguez Rueda of Columbia while Ivana Maria Furtado and Pon N Krithika won against Ana Ivekovic of Croatia and beat Elise Forsa of Norway respectively.