… Sham Khan heads the juniors
WENDELL Meusa rebounded after his second round defeat to Learie Webster to take the lead in National Chess Qualification tournament.

Earlier leader Taffin Khan suffered two losses on Sunday as veteran player Errol Tiwari used his experience against the lad to secure the win in round six. One of the most anticipated matches of the day came in round seven, as Khan took on Meusa, but it was Meusa who secured the victory.

Brian Thompson pulled off two of the biggest upsets of the tournament as he defeated Loris Nathoo and Tiwari in round five and round seven respectively.

The points standings after seven rounds, Wendell Meusa is on six points, Brian Thompson five and a half, Learie Webster, Taffin Khan and Errol Tiwari on five each, Loris Nathoo, Omar Shariff, Ronuel Greenidge and Irshad Mohamed on four and a half, Michael Pereira and Chino Chung four apiece, David Khan and Shiv Nandalall on three and half, while five other players are all tied on three points.

Sham Khan remains the only undefeated player in the junior category. Khan with five wins and two draws is at the top of the standings with six points.

Earlier leader Saeed Ali secured his only loss to Khan in round six.

In other highlighted matches, Crystal Khan defeated Rashad Hussain, Raan Motilall defeated Stanley Ming Jr, while Khalid Gajraj got the better of Cecil Cox.

The points standings after seven rounds: Sham Khan six, Saeed Ali five and a half, Raan Motilall, Kana Khan, Rashad Hussain, Crystal Khan and Stanley Ming Jr five apiece, Aslam Hussain four and half, while Khalid Gajraj, Keron Simon, Sheriffa Ali, Carlos Petterson and Mandy Ramnarine are on four points. Six others are tied on three points apiece.

The tournament will wrap up this weekend when the seniors play round eight on Saturday at 16:30 h and round nine and ten on Sunday starting from 12:00 h. The juniors will play the remaining three rounds this Sunday from 10:30 h.