They remain unbeaten to clinch U-7 Open and Girls titles respectively
Fatorda: Salcete’s Vivaan Kadam and Canacona’s Sreeja Ditesh Ghanekar emerged champions in the Under-7 Goa State Chess Championship-cum-Selection 2026 held at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.
Vivaan (1539) remained unbeaten to clinch the Open title with 5.5 points after drawing with Hredaan Mandrekar. Mormugao’s Ojas Kamat finished second with 5 points, while Tiswadi’s Kritin Singh secured third place with the same tally.
Hredaan Mandrekar, Daksh Jaykumar Kathrani and Shashwat Tari Naik completed the top-six finishers. Pragyan Pradeep Gaonkar and Yashveer Yeshwant Naik were the best performers from Salcete taluka.
In the Girls category, Sreeja Ghanekar stayed unbeaten to win the title with 5 points, defeating Srisha Sanjiv Mesta in the final round. Bardez’s Yashasvi Walke finished second with 4 points, while Salcete’s Phacelia Eliaza Barreto took third place with 4 points.
Paaviya Pavankumar Naik, Srisha Sanjiv Mesta and Jigyasa Gawas finished fourth to sixth respectively. Sanvi Pradeep Naik and Kiara Fernandes won the best Salcete taluka prizes.
The tournament saw 32 players in the Open category and 15 in the Girls.
