Chess players in Metropolitan showdown
Larona Makhaiza | Friday April 28, 2023 12:54
In an interview with Mmegi Sport, BCF director-technical, Thompson Modisane said they are ready for the showdown. “Everything is ready for the tournament; there are no pending issues.
Thursday, players are arriving here in Gaborone then Friday we kick-start the competitions at 8:00am,” Modisane said this week. Modisane indicated that the competition will see 20 players, 10 from each gender, take part. The Championship finals will boast 20 players. The 20 players qualified for the finals during the qualifiers held recently across the country.
“We held qualifiers for this tournament where players across the country can play then we select the top 23 from the Open section and 17 from the ladies’ section. The 2022 champions then joined them in the second qualifiers to make them a total of 24 Open and 18 ladies' section,” he said. “After these, they now play against each other to qualify for the top 10 from each section,” added Modisane.
Furthermore, Modisane revealed that the player to look out for in the tournament finals would be Providence Oatlhotse who won all his eight games during the qualifiers. However, Modisane said one of the top contenders, failed to make it past the qualifiers. “In the second qualifiers of the ladies' section, we saw one of the tournament favourites Ruth Otisitswe fail to make it to the top 10 losing to debutant Dolly Thapelo in the deciding game which determined who remained,” he said. But Modisane said defending champions from both sides managed to book their places in the finals. “Despite all of this, both sections of our defending champions qualified with ease with no struggle, though Moakofi Notha, the defending in the Open section, missed round one,” Modisane said. Metropolitan has pumped in a total of P152,800 into the tournament.
The winner in the Open section will pocket P11,000 while the women's champions will get P9,000. Players in positions one to 10 will all go home with a cash prize. Position 10 in the Open section has a consolation cash prize of P1,500 while in the women's section, the money is P1,000. Oatlhotse, Junior Mhusiwa, Otsile Mapini, Keletshabile Monnaatsheko, Notha, Gomolemo Rongwane, Bokamoso Simon, Barileng Gaelafshwe, Thuso Mosutha, and Gaasite Sebetlela will battle it out in the Open section.
In the women's category, there is Refilwe Gabatshwarwe, Arona Moshoboro, Tuduetso Sabure, Natalie Banda, Naledi Marape, Lorato Thapelo, Nalamalpu Reddy, Atlang Mosweu, Maya Otimile, and Radikoro Boitumelo.