Bhakti finishes in the prize list of National 'A'

Commonwealth Under 18 Gold Medallist and Woman FIDE Master Bhakti
Kulkarni finished in the prize list in her maiden attempt at the
National 'A' which concluded recently in Chennai. Bhakti finished tied for the
12th to 15th places with WGM Eesha Karavade, WIM Kruttika Nadig and
National 'B' Champion Sai Meera.

The tournament was particularly satisfactory for Bhakti as she defeated
her archrival two time consecutive National Subjunior Champion P. Lakshmi Sahiti
in the penultimate round. Incidentally, this is the fourth time in a row that
Bhakti has finished higher than Lakshmi Sahiti who is also the reigning
Asian Under 16 Champion.

During the tournament, Bhakti beat Aabha Thakur, S. Harini and Kanuri Tejaswi.
She also had a creditable and hard fought draw against Sai Meera. Interestingly,
both Sai Meera and Harini had beaten Bhakti in the National 'B' so this definitely
shows some improvement as far as the playing level of Bhakti is concerned.

Coach Raghunandan Gokhale, who is currently in Singapore for the Asian Schools
Championships, expressed satisfaction with Bhakti's performance and stated that
she will do even better in the upcoming National Under 17 to be held in Calicut in the first month of 2007.