India wins 18 medals at 28th Asian Youth Chess Championships 2026
Saiaastha Singh, Maitreyi Mondal and Pavitha R V are the only three Indians to have won a Gold medal each at 28th Asian Youth Chess Championships 2026.
Saiaastha Singh, Maitreyi Mondal and Pavithra R V clinch a Gold medal each
Saiaastha Singh and WCM Maitreyi Mondal clinched a Gold medal each in the Classical events of Under-8 and Under-14 Girls respectively. Pavithra R V won the only other Gold in Rapid Under-14 Girls. Maitreyi is also the sole Indian to have won a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal in each of the three formats – Gold in Classical, Silver in Rapid and Bronze in Blitz. This was not only her Asian debut but also her first tournament outside of India. That certainly makes it extra special.
WCM Nakshatra Gumudavelly won Silver in Rapid Under-10 Girls. The boys won four Bronze medals in the Blitz event. They are – Evan Antonio Telles in Under-8 Open, CM Sattwik Swain in Under-10 Open, Siddhanth Poonja in Under-14 Open and FM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma in Under-18 Open.
Out of 18 medals, India has won 3 Gold, 6 Silver and 9 Bronze, 10 individual and 8 team medals, 5 in Classical, 5 in Rapid and 8 in Blitz.
All Indian medal winners with the Team India coaches and officials | Photo: Rajendra Singh
Classical: Under-8 Girls: Gold and Team Silver
The World Cup Cadets Under-8 Girls 2026 Bronze medalist, Saiaastha Singh (1506) scored 7/9 to clinch Gold in Under-8 Girls. She finished a half point ahead of the rest. Aiat Gasanova (1608), Xianshuo Zhu (CHN, 1676), Divisha Naveen Nayakula (1658), Jingya Yao (CHN), Duc Huyen My Nguyen (VIE, 1487) and Hongyu Tao (CHN, 1514) scored 6.5/9 each. Out of them, Aiat and Xianshuo secured Silver and Bronze medals each respectively.
Saiaastha 7/9, Divisha Naveen Nayakula 6.5/9 and Shreyanshi Jain 4.5/9 contributed towards team Silver medal for India.
Gold in Under-8 Girls – Saiaastha Singh 7/9 | Photo: Official site
Under-8 Girls Top 3 (L to R): Silver – Aiat Gasanova 6.5/9, Gold – Saiaastha Singh 7/9 and Bronze – Xianshuo Zhu (CHN) 6.5/9 | Photo: Official site
Interview with Saiaastha Singh
Under-12 Girls: Team Bronze
India won team Bronze medal in Under-12 Girls scoring 18/27. WCM Divi Bijesh 6.5/9, Manya Abhishek Drolia 6/9 and WCM Pooja Shree R 5.5/9 conributed towards the team Bronze.
Under-12 Girls Top 3 (L to R): Silver – China 18.5/27, Gold – Russia 20/27 and Bronze – India 18/27 | Photo: Official site
Under-14 Girls: Gold and Team Silver
The reigning West Bengal State Women 2025 chaampion, WCM Maitreyi Mondal (2068) scored 7.5/9 to clinch Gold in Under-14 Girls. She finished a half point ahead of the rest. WCM Nurelina Tursunalieva (KGZ, 1853) and Maria Kalugina (1859) scored 7/9 each. They won Silver and Bronze medals respectively according to tie-breaks.
India also won a Team Silver medal scoring 18/27. Maitreyi 7.5/9Ì£. Anvitha Sathi 5.5/9 and Pavitha R V 5/9 contributed towards the team Silver.
Gold in Under-14 Girls – WCM Maitreyi Mondal 7.5/9 | Photo: Official site
Under-14 Girls Top 3 (L to R): Silver – WCM Nurelina Tursunalieva (KGZ) 7/9, Gold – WCM Maitreyi Mondal 7.5/9 and Bronze – Maria Kalugina 7/9 | Photo: Official site
Under-14 Girls Top 3 (L to R): Silver – India 18/27, Gold – Russia 19/27 and Bronze – Vietnam 15.5/27 | Photo: Official site
The Gold medalists in Classical – WCM Maitreyi Mondal and Saiaastha Singh with the Team India coaches | Photo: Rajendra Singh
Rapid: Under-8 Girls – Team Silver
India won team Silver in Rapid Under-8 Girls. Shreyanshi Jain scored 5.5/7, Saiaastha Singh 5/7 and Divisha Naveen Nayakula 4.5/7, added to the team Silver.
Under-8 Girls Rapid Top 3 (L to R): Silver – India 15/21, Gold – China 17.5/21 and Bronze – Vietnam 14/21 | Photo: Official site
Under-10 Girls: Silver
Vu Bao Chau Nguyen (VIE, 1758), WCM Nakshatra Gumudavelly (1776) and Amaliya Yedresheva (KAZ, 1682) scored an unbeaten 6/7 each in Rapid Under-10 Girls. They won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals respectively according to tie-breaks.
Under-10 Girls Rapid Top 3 (L to R): Silver – WCM Nakshatra Gumudavelly 6/7, Gold – Vu Bao Chau Nguyen (VIE) 6/7 and Bronze – Amaliya Yedresheva (KAZ) 6/7 | Photo: Official site
Under-14 Girls: Gold, Silver and Team Silver
The 13th National Amateur Below 2000 Women 2026 champion, Pavithra R V (1907) scored sole 6/7 to win Gold in Rapid Under-14 Girls. She finished a half point ahead of the field. WCM Maitreyi Mondal (1931) scored 5.5/7 to secure Silver. This was Maitreyi’s first medal of the event and also outside of India. WFM Le Vy Tran (VIE, 1951) edged past WFM Shuang Wu (CHN, Hlj, 1862) to get Bronze with a score of 5.5/7.
Pavithra, Maitreyi and Mysha Perwez’s 3.5/7, contributed to a team Silver for India 15/22.
Under-14 Girls Rapid Top 3 (L to R): Silver – WCM Maitrey Mondal 5.5/7, Gold – Pavithra R V 6/7 and Bronze – WFM Le Vy Tran (VIE) 5.5/7 | Photo: Official site
Under-14 Girls Rapid Top 3 (L to R): Silver – India 15/21, Gold – Vietnam 15.5/21 and Bronze – Kazakhstan 13.5/21 | Photo: Official site
The Indian medal winners of the Rapid event with the officials | Photo: Sara Bangla Daba Sangstha
Blitz: Under-8 Open: Bronze
Vladimir Neek Sergeev (1746) scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to clinch Gold. Six players scored 7/9 each. Out of them, Mikhail Shishov (1880) and Evan Antonio Telles (1661) got Silver and Bronze respectively according to tie-breaks.
Under-8 Open Blitz Top 3 (L to R): Silver – Mikhail Shishov 7/9, Gold – Vladimir Neek Sergeev 8.5/9 and Bronze – Evan Antonio Telles 7/9 | Photo: Official site
Under-8 Girls: Team Bronze
Shreyanshi Jain 6.5/9, Divisha Naveen Nayakula 5.5/9 and Pragnika Vaka Lakshmi’s 4.5/9 score accumulated to a team Bronze for India 16.5/27.
Under-8 Girls Blitz Top 3 (L to R): Silver – China 19.5/27, Gold – Vietnam 21/27 and Bronze – India 16.5/27 | Photo: Official site
Under-10 Open: Bronze
CM Nurali Nurshan (KAZ, 2146) scored an unbeaten 8/9 to clinch Gold in Blitz Under-10 Open. Nurmukhammed Elemes (KAZ, 2053), CM Sattwik Swain (1944) and Ziming Guo (CHN, 1840) scored 7.5/9 each. Nurali and Sattwik received Silver and Bronze according to tie-breaks.
Under-10 Open Blitz Top 3 (L to R): Silver – Nurmukhammed Elemes (KAZ) 7.5/9, Gold – CM Nurali Nurshan (KAZ) 8/9 and Bronze – CM Sattwik Swain 7.5/9 | Photo: Official site
Under-12 Girls: Team Bronze
India won team Bronze medal in Blitz Under-12 Girls. WCM Pooja Shree 7/9, Arin A Meha 6.5/9 and Krisha Tamhant Jain’s 5.5/9, scored accumulated towards a team Bronze 19/27.
Under-12 Girls Blitz Top 3 (L to R): Silver – Russia 20/27, Gold – Vietnam 21/27 and Bronze – India 19/27 | Photo: Official site
Under-14 Open: Bronze
Harvey Zhu (AUS, Hanchen, 2064) scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to clinch Gold in Blitz Under-14 Open. Biloliddin Obidov (UZB, 2029) and Siddhanth Poonja (2052) scored 7.5/9 each. They got a Silver and Bronze medals respectively according to tie-breaks.
Under-14 Open Blitz Top 3 (L to R): Silver – Biloliddin Obidov (UZB) 7.5/9, Gold – Harvey Zhu (AUS, Hanchen) 8.5/9 and Bronze – Siddhanth Poonja 7.5/9 | Photo: Official site
Under-14 Girls: Bronze and Team Bronze
WFM Shuang Wu (CHN, Hlj, 1908), WFM Minh Chi Nguyen (VIE, 1912) and WCM Maitreyi Mondal (2068) scored 7/9 each in Blitz Under-14 Girls. They won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals respectively according to tie-breaks.
Maitreyi 7/9, Pavithra R V 5/9 and Mysha Perwez 4.5/9 contributed towards Team Bronze
Under-14 Girls Blitz Top 3 (L to R): Silver – WFM Minh Chi Nguyen (VIE) 7/9, Gold – WFM Shuang Wu (CHN, Hlj) 7/9 and Bronze – WCM Maitreyi Mondal 7/9 | Photo: Official site
Under-18 Open: Bronze
FM Vu Anh Duong (VIE, 2085) scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to clinch Gold in Under-18 Open. IM Christian Gian Karlo Arca (PHI, 2388) scored 7/9 to secure Silver. FM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma (2146) scored 7/9 to get Bronze according to tie-breaks.
Under-18 Open Blitz Top 3 (L to R): Silver – IM Christian Gian Karlo Arca (PHI) 7/9, Gold – FM Vu Anh Duong (VIE) 7.5/9 and Bronze – FM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma 7/9 | Photo: Official site
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