It was a good day in the office for the chess sensation as she went through all her matches without a flinch, beating some of the boys including the likes of Thuto Mpene, who was marked as a threat ahead of the tournament.
Boys and girls faced off against each other with the girls proving too tough to beat. Marape won the Under 18 category tied on 4.5 points out of a possible 5 with Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Natalie Banda who claimed the second position.
They both walked home with P525 cash, medals and a trophy for the champion. Mpene finished third after collecting four points from a tie break against Candidate Master (CM) Iphazha Masala and Ofile Masilo. Mpene won himself cash prize and a medal. In another development, the Under 14 category was won by WCM Laone Phoebe Moshoboro with three points, taking home P400, a medal and a trophy. The second spot went to Rethabile Seleke after collecting three points and Maya Otimile settled for the third position with three points. Eesha Reddy won the Under 12 section with three points, leaving the tournament P250 richer with a medal and a trophy.
Ananda Hariharan settled for the second position with 2.5 points, while the third position went to Mohanakrishnan Madhav with 2.5 points. Speaking to Sport Monitor, Marape said she did the most common openings against her opponents, because she knows them and they have always played together. “I had a good run last year, winning Sport Woman of the Year during Botswana Sports Awards and finishing second at the Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) Metropolitan National Championships.
The plan this year is to go for the title,” she said. Marape playing against the boys was interesting, because there has always been rivalry between the two sides. She said the boys believed that they were better than the girls but the girls have proven them wrong. Marape said chess knows no gender. The dissapointed Mpene said he was looking forward to winning the tournament. “I was taken aback when we were told that we are playing against the girls. I had prepared for the boys and my plan did not work out.
I was under pressure when we went for the tie break but I had to do what had to be done and I won against the two boys,” he said. In another matter, Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) board member, Dr Khaulani Fichani applauded Indian High Commission for the role they were playing in sport development. He said sport development is an important pillars for the Commission. “It is not about the size of the tournament but the impact that you are making in sport development. We appreciate that you have also worked with other National Sport Associations (NSAs) being Table Tennis and Softball,” he said.
