International Master (IM) Jan Emmanuel Garcia lived up to his top billing by bagging two gold medals and put a dent on India’s dominance of the 2013 Asian Youth Chess Championship which ended late Wednesday in Sari, Iran.
Garcia drew with Ganesan Akash of India in the sixth and penultimate round then beat Eiti Bashir of Syria in the seventh and final round to win the Blitz chess event in the Open Under-18 division.
The top player of Ateneo de Manila University notched a total of 6.5 points on six wins and a draw for the gold.
“Masyado pong mabigat ang field na sumali dito kasama na ang pag-dagsa ng strong Indian contingent, China at former Soviet Republics gaya ng Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan at Kyrgyzstan, kaya masayang-masayang po akong makakuha ng gold,” Garcia informed National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) head Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.
Patil Pratik Pravin of India subdued Ismailov Mukhit of Kazakhstan to win the silver with 5.5 points while Le Tuan Minh of Vietnam defeated Ganesan Akash of India for the bronze with 5.0 points.
It was the second gold medal in the meet for Garcia who also topped the Standard competition after edging Ma Zhonghan of China in the tiebreak.
Other Filipinos who won bronze medals were Fide Master Paulo Bersamina of Pasay City in the Open under-16 and Daryl Unix Samantila of Tonsuya, Malabon in the Open under-14.