Struggle for seeded players in Asian Youth Chess

Most of the seeded players found it difficult to negotiate the tough resistance offered by the lower rated players in the ongoing Asian Youth Chess Championship here today.
In the girls Under-14 section, fourth seed Indian girl Aakanksha Hagawane was in sole lead with three points from as many rounds. Hagawane defeated Hashemi Seyed Fatemeh of Iran in the third round encounter.
In the Under-14 Open section, fifth seed Abhimanyu Puranik of India and Arash Tahbaz of Iran were in lead with three points.
In Under-16 Open category, seventh seed Lorparizangeneh Shahin of Iran was in sole lead after outwitting second seed Atabayev Saparmyrat of Turkmenistan while Indian hope and top seed International Master Aravindh Chithambaram set aside his first round debacle to register his second victory in the championship over Minabayev Bolatbek of Kazakhstan.

In the girls' section, all the top three players Derakhshani Dorsa of Iran, Indian duo of G K Monnisha and M Mahalakshmi were able to maintain a clean sheet.
In Under-18 girls' section, five players including top seed Indian Srija Seshadri was leading the table while in the Open section, third seed Chakravarthi Reddy, his team-mates N Krishna Teja and Aubhropratim Manna were giving company to fourth seed Serikbay Chingiz of Kazakhstan at top of point table.
Top seed and local hope Prince Bajaj not recovered from his unexpected lose in the first round and settled for half point against Jumanov Elbek of Uzebkistan in the third round.