Madhesh Kumar defeats Shaunak Badole to take sole lead in national chess meet
Puducherry’s S Madhesh Kumar took the sole lead with 8.5 points after defeating Maharashtra’s Shaunak Badole in the ninth round of the National Sub-Junior Chess Championships 2026. Niladri Banerjee followed with eight points, while Prishita Gupta led the girls’ standings
Hyderabad: S Madhesh Kumar of Puducherry emerged as the sole leader with 8.5 points after outwitting co-leader Shaunak Badole of Maharashtra in the ninth round of the 51st National Sub-Junior Chess Championships 2026, organised by the Telangana State Chess Association, here on Sunday.
Madhesh was followed by Niladri Banerjee of West Bengal with eight points. Seven players were tied for third place with seven points each.
Despite drawing with Maitreyi Mondal of West Bengal, top seed FM Prishita Gupta of Delhi maintained her slender lead with eight points, ahead of her four nearest rivals, who had 7.5 points each. Four more players had scored seven points each.
Important results (ninth round):
Madhesh Kumar bt B Shaunak
Niladri Banerjee bt Aarit Kapil
Madhvendra Pratap Sharma bt M Mridav
Amit Agrawal bt A Hemal
Vivaan Vijay Saraogi bt Ch Saharsha
Sherla Prathamesh lost to Parambrata Sarkar
A Divith Reddy bt Krishay Jain
R S Pranav Sai Ram lost to Christy George
Jval Saurin Patel bt Armaan Singh Bakshi
Sagnik Halder lost to Aadik Theophane Lenin
Arixander Johny lost to Amartya Saumitra Gupta
Indrajit Majumdar lost to Samarth Sreeni Warrier
Sai Abhinav Kuchibhotla bt Arjun Singh
Viraat Jalan lost to Rahul Ramakrishnan
Jai Prakash Vanum lost to Aahil Patra
Maitreyi Mondal drew with Prishita Gupta.
