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). By end of round six, the players standings were as follows, Otimile threee points out of six in the Under-14 category, Arona has garnered three points out six in the Under-18 category while Laone has managed to collect two out of six points by the end of round six. “The competition is tough for our players, they are playing against strong players with higher rankings and titles. By end of round six, Laone was in position 58, the group is led by Woman International Master (WIM) Afruza Khamdamova of Uzbekistan. We still have five more rounds to play,” she said.
Khamdamova won the World Youth Championship Under-14 2023 in Italy, where she scored nine points in 10 rounds having defeated all her opponents. In the Under-14 category, Otimile is ranked number 43, the group is led by Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Kesaria Mgeladze of Georgia. The other local player, Arona is seated in position 42 at the end of round six in the Under 18 category. The group is led by WIM Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan. “We are not expecting our players to pull any miracles or push them to chase for medals, the competition is tough but we hope they can at least get titles and improve their rankings. They are still young and this is a learning opportunity,” she said.
