TITLE: CHESS TEAMS FINALIZED FOR TROMSO Team Fiji is highly optimistic of a good outing at the 41st Chess Olympiad at Tromso, Norway which will be held from August 1-14. With more than 170 countries and 1,500 chess players, Tromso Olympiad is the 4th largest sporting event in the world. Open Team Captain and National Champion Candidate Master (CM) Calvin Prasad states that preparations are in final stages and Fiji has opted to add new players this time. “I am happy to announce that this is possibly one of the strongest teams of the decade,” says Prasad. “The arrival of Taione Sikivou from Malaysia earlier this month has done wonders for our team morale. He is the top scoring local player from the 2012 Fiji International Open and packs a big punch when playing aggressive chess.” This is a historical Chess Olympiad for Fiji since teams consist of 3 Candidate Masters, 1 Women’s Candidate Master and 2 Women’s FIDE Masters which is the highest ever for an Olympiad team from a Pacific Island country. Also, International Arbiter (IA) Dr. Jashint Maharaj will write history when he becomes the first Fijian to arbiter in a Chess Olympiad next month. Maharaj is the only Pacific Islander to hold an IA title. “Having debutants like Aarti Sewak in the Women’s National team and Taione Sikivou in the Open Team adds a zing that our opponents won’t expect,” affirms General Secretary CM Goru Arvind. “Apart from younger players, our squads have noteworthy experience in the form of CM Manoj Kumar, CM Sanmogam Goundar, Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) Gloria Sukhu, Women’s FIDE Master (WFM) Hilda Vukikomoala and WFM Kieran Lyons who have represented Fiji before.” USA-based veteran Dr. Jasvinder Singh will fly to Tromso as a reserve for the Open Team while Nora De Asa will boost the Women’s Team. In the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad, the Women’s National Team had won against Afghanistan, Pakistan and Barbados while the Open Team had defeated Kenya, Burundi and Namibia alongside a draw with Korea. Both teams are keen to expand on their past performance and are training intensively at Fiji Club on Sundays until they leave our shores on July 29.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 02:20:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015