Penang Junior Evan Timothy Capel clinched the coveted Boy Under -16 title this year, sharing 6 points with Sumant Subramaniam and Muhd Izz Saifuddin but with a superior tie break. It was a sweet victory for Penang who came with two busloads of some 71 players accompanied by parents and supporters. Dato' Sieh Kok Chi from OCM was present to grace the occasion.
NWM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri claimed her Girl Under-16 title with ease leaving her next opponent Latifah Kaiyisah with 2 points ahead. Three other prize winners Teh Kai Wen, Winnie Hong and Choong Sy Yiing scored 4 1/2 points to take up the remaining slots
Top rated Yeap Eng Chiam set aside his 'Boy Under-14' rivals to win the title with full points. The 2nd to 5th placed Winners had a tight finish with 5 1/2 points and were decided by the second tie-break.
In the picture above is Eng Chiam second from the left, together with the other Champions and officials from OCM, MCF and Pearl Point
The placings in the Girl Under-14 category were keenly fought with Selangor player Amira Syahmina Zullkafli winning the title with 1/2 points ahead of her next rival Tan Li Ting and Camilia Johari.
The Boy Under-12 category attracted a large pool of players. Tan Wei Hao however played well and clinched the title for the second time running despite conceding a draw in the last round to 5th placed Subramaniam. Top rated Muhd Irfan Haqqim surprisingly dropped to 6th place while another strong contender Mohd Faizal ( ranked third) was placed 8th
Another Selangor player NJM Nur Nabila successfully defended her Girl Under-12 title, despite dropping a point in Round 6 to Fairuz Hamizah of Kedah.
Defending Champion Selangor player Yeoh Li Tian had no trouble to stamp his mark with a clean 7 points, brushing aside his two other opponents Muhd Sirajuddin and Muhd Aziz Farhan into 2nd and 3rd placings.
Defending Champion Nur Najiha cruised through the six rounds before yielding to fellow Selangor player Puteri Rifqah Fahada, but with a comfortable 6 points lead
Boy Under-8 title went to Wong Yinn Long who rebounded after a 3rd round setback to 4th Place Danish Hamzah Al-Hadi, the pretournament favourite. He shared 6 points with the 2nd and 3rd winners
Girl Under-8 winner - Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa of Selangor had a scare in Round 3. She played well thereafter to share 6 points with second-placed Teh De Zen and won on tie break
And finally.....
The Chief Arbiter for the Championship IA Lim Tse Pin later briefed the top four winners of each category on the scheduled round-robin play to determine the eligibility to represent the country in selected overseas tournament. For the record this matter was laid out and made known to participants before the start of the competition.Congratulations to all the Winners!
