Indian players poised for the kill

Indian players set themselves up for the kill by moving into the sole lead in all categories, except the boys' under-12, in the Asian Youth chess championship, at the end of the fifth round in Kozikhode on Wednesday.

Players from India's largest-ever contingent forged ahead in six categories, while top seed Le Quang Liem of Vietman is the lone outsider in joint-lead with Y Sandeep in the under-12 boys' section.

Second seed G Rohit halted the winning streak of top seed Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietman to emerge sole leader with five points in the under-14 boys' section, while 17th seed J Rajasurya drew with Pham Bich Ngoc (Vietnam) but is still leading with 4.5 points in the under-14 girls' section.

Trailing behind the joint leaders in the under-12 boys' section are India's K Narayanan and Navneet Sharma.

Among the girls, third seed Lakshmi Praneetha was leading with five points, leaving behind top seed I Ramya Krishna with four points.

N Srinath continued to be the sole leader in the under-10 boys' section with 4.5 points, followed by as many as eight Indians at 3.5 points apiece.

P Lakshmi Sahiti emerged sole leader in under-10 girls' with five points, followed by Rucha S Pujari (four points).

In what was seen as a title clash, Vietnam's Troung Son, who was the overnight joint leader in the under-14 boys', failed to do the trick with Rohit today and went down in a keenly-fought tussle. With only two more rounds to go, Rohit is well-placed to lift the title.

Trailing behind Rohit are Abhijeet Gupta and Rahul Sangma besides Troung Son with four points each.

Rajasurya gave momentum to her surprise run to lead by managing a draw with Pham Bich Ngoc (VIE) in the under-14 girls', where Soumya Swaminathan is in second spot with 3.5 points, beating top seed Mary Ann Gomes, who has so far had a poor run in the tournament.

Vietnam's Le Quang Liem, top seed and joint leader in under-12 boys', beat K Narayanan, while Lakshmi Praneetha beat Ngo Dieh  Hoa (VIE) to lead among girls.

Defending champion Parimarjan Negi was held to a draw by K Priyadarshan to leave both of them in the second place among eight players in under-10 boys', while Rucha S Pujari defeated J Mohana Priya to claim the second spot with four points behind the leader Lakshmi Sahiti. Closely following them in the third place is V Chaitanya, with 3.5 points.