Local boy and favourite Sahaj Grover carved out a much-needed victory over Tamil Nadu's G. Akash in the 11th and final round to win the National sub-junior boys' chess title at the Kulachi Hansraj Model School here on Sunday.
Sahaj, a former World under-10 champion and the only International Master in the field, finished with 9.5 points, half a point clear of Girish Koushik who drew with Anurag Mhamal. Girish, who started the final day in joint lead with Sahaj, was better off in case of a tie for the title with the Delhi boy.
There was no last-minute drama in the girls' section where overnight leader Tamil Nadu's P.V. Nandhidhaa (9.5 points) sealed the title with a top-board draw with Kerala's S. Anjana Krishna.
The results (11th round): Open: A. Akash (7.5) lost to Sahaj Grover (9.5); Girish Koushik (9) drew with Anurag Mhamal (8); Antonio Viani D'Cunha (8.5) bt Sidhant Mohapatra (7.5); Prince Bajaj (8.5) bt Rishi Thariani (7.5); D.S. Shashaank (7.5) lost to Shardul Gagare (8.5); D. Yashas (8) bt J. Nishvin (7.5); Tejas Ravichandran (8) bt M. Karthikeyan (7); Mohammad Ashraf (8) bt S. L. Narayanan (7); Pratik Patil (7) lost to Mugil Jayavel (8); Sayantan Das (7.5) bt K.G. Chaithanyaa (6.5).
Girls: S. Anjana Krishna (7.5) drew with P. V. Nandhidhaa (9.5); Shweta Gole (7.5) lost to Pratyusha Bodda (9); Angihotri Ghosh (7.5) drew with Sonakshi Rathore (8.5); Bala Kannamma (8.5) bt Sanyusakta Satpathy (7); G. Lasya (8) bt P. Michelle Catherina (7); J. Saranya (7) drew with Smaraki Mohanty (7); V. Janu (7) drew with Vanessa D'Souza (7); Priyamyada Karamcheti (6.5) lost to Srija Seshadari (7.5); Soneji Janhavi (7) drew with Arunima Kalra (7); Andria L.D'Souza (6.5) drew with Priyanka Kumari (6.5).
Standings (top 10): Boys: 1. Sahaj, 2. Girish, 3. Antonio, 4. Shardul, 5. Prince, 6. Mohammad, 7. Anurag, 8. Mugil, 9. Yashas, 10. Tejas.
Girls: 1. Nandhidhaa, 2. Pratyusha, 3. Bala, 4. Sonakshi, 5. Lasya, 6. Shweta, 7. Srija, 8. Agnihotri, 9. Anjana, 10. Sanyasakta.
