The championships started in October 28 until November 10. The team is made up of Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Arona Sharell Moshoboro (Under-18), WCM Laone Phoebe Moshoboro (Under-16) and Maya Otimile (Under-14). Arona joined the team from Boston, United States of America (USA) where she is currently based under the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Elite Scholarship. After round three of the championships, team Otimile had accumulated 2/3 points in the Under-14 category, Laone accumulated 1/3 points in the Under 16 category while Arona had only 1/3 points in the Under-18 category.
Over the weekend, things got a bit tough for the players, with hope that they were to bounce back in the remaining five rounds. Arona had a difficult time on the board against USA’s Zhou Chelsea in the Under-18 category, while her sister, Laone also could not stand the pressure from a Brazilian opponent in the Under 16 section. The youngest team member, Otimile, was also not spared as she faced off against a tough opponent from India. The BCF spokesperson, Goitsemodimo Makgatle, told SportMonitor that at end of round five, Otimile had accumulated 3/5 points, Arona had two points after pulling a draw, initially she had 1.5 points before going into round five, and Laone won round five in the Under-16 category which means she had accumulated two points. The team played round six on Sunday evening followed by rest day yesterday (Monday).
