Oatlhotse back to winning ways
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday January 31, 2017 13:03
IM Oatlhotse had a bad year, failing to win any tournament and dropping out of the national team. But he has begun the year on a promising note after winning the weekend tournament and pocketing P3,000. He beat defending champion Ndawana Mosenya with a score of six out of seven points in the final. IM Oatlhotse met Mosenya in round six and prevailed. In round seven, he played against Abhiram Sasitharan and beat him with a score of six out of seven points.
Woman IM, Onkemetse Francis continued where she left off last year, winning the Women Section. Last year, WIM Francis won three tournaments; the Metropolitan national chess championship, Maun Open International chess championship and Botash Open chess tournament.
WIM Francis told Mmegi Sport the winning the competition was a good way to start the year.
“The win has built my confidence going forward. Last year I had other commitments which made it difficult for me to have proper training,” she said.
She said the competition was tough especially from young players. She said youngsters have been active all year while senior players last had competitive games in September. She said the defending champion, Sonia Modi of South Africa was also a threat.
Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) public relations director, Keenese Katisinge said they are grateful that local players played well and made sure that the championship remained on home soil. She said that was an indication of growth.
The tournament attracted 207 players from Botswana and African Zone 4.3 countries Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique. Other players came from Italy. The tournament received a P25,000 sponsorship from Airfficiency (Pty) Ltd.