Soumya rules

report from susanpolgar website

Soumya wins world junior girls title
TNN 4 November 2009, 01:50am IST

PUNE: India's Soumya Swaminathan won the World junior girls (u-20) title when she defeated Kubra Ozturk of Turkey in the 13th and last round at Puerto Madryn (Argentina) on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Woman Grandmaster tallied 10 points in this under-20 tournament. D Harika (girls) and Abhijit Gupta (open) had won the World junior titles on India's Independence Day in Turkey last year.

This 45-player event has lost some of its sheen because many players decided to skip the event in the South American continent. Considering that Soumya (Elo 2297) was seeded ninth and needed a victory in the last round makes this achievement praiseworthy. The feat will give her a direct entry to the Women's World Championship, the dates of which are not announced.

Soumya was leading in Argentina after 10 rounds. However, a draw in the 11th (Russian Zoja Severiukhina) and a heartbreaking loss in the 12th to higher-rated Corri Tello Deysi of Peru (2361) put her in a spot of bother. She had to beat Ozturk on Tuesday with white pieces and hope that compatriot Kiran Manisha Mohanty at least draws with overnight leader Betul Cemre Yildiz (Turkey, 2224) on the top board. Both Mohanty (2153) and Soumya did their job to perfection.

Soumya had a five-game winning streak from the sixth round. Her wins over higher-rated opponents came against Padmini Rout (2331), Xiaoweng Zang (China, 2391), WGM Iozefinal Paulet (Romania, 2342).

Source: Times of India