Sri Lanka won four gold medals in their respective age categories at the Commonwealth Chess Championship at the Citrus Hotel Waskaduwa, Kalutara yesterday as they left their India counterparts stunned.
Proving their prowess to win gold medals were Sandula Dahamdi (U-18 Girls – Musaeus College), Amesha Wijesinghe (U-16 Girls – Mahamaya Girls College Kandy), WFM Oshini Gunawardena (U-12 Girls – Wycherley International Colombo) and Thehas Kiringoda (U-10 Open – Ananda College).
The title of Commonwealth Blitz Chess Champion went to Swapnil Dhopade (India) who finished ahead on tiebreak against Mitraba Guha (India) with both players scoring 7.5/9 points. IM Madhavan Hari (India) won the bronze medal.
Seven other Sri Lankans finished in third place to finish as the second strongest team on show after India. Upeksha Dissanayake (U-18 Open), Mishela Pallie (U-18 Girls), K.A. Galkotuwa (U-16 Open), Theruni Jayasundara (U-14 Girls), Sethika Hansira Samaraweera (U-10 Open), Isali Leelananda (U-10 Girls) and Eleesha Fernando (U-8 Girls) won the bronze medals.
