Pascua 15th in junior chess

CHENNAI, India – FM Haridas Pascua settled for 15th place in the boys division, while Christy Lamiel Bernales wound up 35th in the girls category at the close of the 2010 Asian Juniors chess championships at the Vijay Park and Business Hotel here Wednesday.

Pascua lost to No. 9 IM Das Debashis of India in the ninth and final round and blew his bid for a possible Top 10 finish in the tough, 74-player , eight-nation tournament.

The 17-year-old campaigner from Mangatarem, Pangasinan, who climbed into a tie for sixth place in the eighth and penultimate round, finished with 5.5 points on five wins, one draw and three losses for a share of 14th to 21st places.

Pascua, however, clinched 15th place based on tiebreak scores.

Overall, the University of Baguio student finished one and a half points behind three Indian players -- IMs Sundar Shyam and Gujrathi Santosh Vidit and FM S. Nitin.