SUCCESS is contagious, they say. And, these days, our own Orange City is witnessing a spurt in sporting successes with players from different fields making it to the top. After 21-year-old archer Ojas Deotale bagged triple Golds in Asian Games and Vidarbha’s batter-stumper Jitesh Sharma earned his India cap and added an Asian Games Gold medal in Hangzhou, China; city’s chess wizard Raunak Sadhwani, among the youngest players in India to become a Grandmaster, has taken success to a newer level. The 17-year-old Raunak got crowned as World Junior Rapid Champion.

 

He has conquered the world by becoming World Junior (Under-20) Rapid Chess Champion in Sardinia, Italy. Raunak did the country proud by securing Gold medal in the meet. He scored 8.5 points out from possible 11 rounds. This feat adds to his list of magnificent achievements. It’s a proud moment not just for Nagpur but for the whole nation. Some of his recent top performances include — World Junior Rapid Champion Gold Medal in European Chess Club (Offerspill) playing alongside world champion Magnus Carlsen; bronze medal in FIDE World Teams; 2nd place in St Louis Summer Classic, USA and champion at Serbia Masters.

 

World Junior Blitz Championship starts from Saturday. “Winning any championship is always a wonderful feeling and you really don’t want that feeling to go away for sometime and the same is with me now,” said an elated Raunak after his latest achievement. “Winning Rapid World Junior Championship is something you aim in your junior years and I am glad that I have this title with me now. Now, I am looking forward to many more bigger titles than this. I am really happy with my back to back good performances and I am satisfied with my consistency which I was aiming from a long time,” the champ added.