Mahmood secures fourth position

KARACHI: Pakistan’s reigning national champion Mahmood Lodhi finished fourth in the World Cup Asian Zonal 3.2 Qualifying Chess championships which concluded in Kathmandu, Nepal, over the weekend.
Gujranwala-based Mahmood, the most successful player of the country, informed ‘The News’ here on Tuesday that he was unable to reproduce his top form due to a freak injury sustained during the course of the one-week tournament.
“Like all the other leading contenders, I was also hopeful of winning the event. But my ambition remained unfulfilled as three players aggregated more than my tally of 6.5 points at the end of the ninth and final round. There were a total of 33 participants in the event,” he said.
“Now my aim will be to prove my mettle in the Commonwealth Chess championships in New Delhi in June,” he added.
International Master Mahmood cited his unemployment and lack of support as the reasons restraining him from going all out to achieve the cherished goal of becoming the country’s first Grand Master (GM).
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s GM Zia-ur-Rahman claimed the title in the open section of the Asian Zonal Chess championship where Nepal’s Rupesh Jaiswal became the youngest Fide Master of his country. Zia got hold of the crown with a draw against Mahmood in the final, which took the former’s aggregate to 7.5 points. Jaiswal edged out compatriot Bhupendra Niraula after being tied on five points to become Nepal’s youngest FM at the age of 17. He left behind Manish Hamal who became country’s first FM in 2008 at the age of 22. Jaiswal’s successful tournament was marked by a draw against the eventual champion, Zia-ur-Rahman in the eighth round.
Bangladesh’s Shamima Liza Akter won the women’s title with 7.5 points ahead of Nazrana Khan (7 points) and Hamid Rani (6.5 points).