Chess: Aravindh, Karthikeyan keep India's medal hopes alive
The HinduTriumphant third seed Aravindh Chithambaram joined sparring-partner M. Karthikeyan at 6.5 points to keep alive the Indian claim for a possible medal in the World junior chess championship here on Wednesday. Even as seventh seeded Ukrainian Evgeny Shtembuliak emerged as the only leader at 7.5 points, half-a-point clear of fellow overnight joint-leader Spain’s Miguel Santos Ruiz, Aravindh moved to the tied-third spot at 6.5 with M. Karthikeyan, who drew on the second board. Read: BCA condemns AICF panel action on Atanu Lahiri Meanwhile, the off-form duo of R. Vaishali and Vantika Agarwal, seeded five and 18, have withdrawn citing health reasons. Among the girls, even as Russian leader Polina Shuvalova made a Woman Grandmaster norm, the Indian trio of Srishti Pandey, V. Toshali and P. Surprita achieved Woman International Master norm.