Kulkarni emerges champion

In the eight-round tournament, Kulkarni and Dishank Bajaj earned 7.5 points each. However, on the basis of tie-breaker, Kulkarni was declared winner and Bajaj finished runners-up. Aarav Dharmik secured third place whereas Shraddha Bajaj finished fourth. the fifth place went to Saksham Singh.

The prizes were distributed at the hands of veteran chess player Anantwar and chief arbiter Pravin Pantawane.

Final ranking: 1 Kulkarni Nilay (7.5, 40.5), 2. Dishank Sachin Bajaj (7.5, 39.5), 3 Aarav Ajit Dharmik (6, 38), 4 Bajaj Shraddha (6, 37), 5. Saksham Singh (6, 34.5), 6 Chitre Arush (5.5, 38), 7 Junghare Aditya (5.5, 37), 8 Ramteke Sumedh (5.5, 35), 9. Ramteke Ayush (5.5, 33.5), 10 TM Kawadkar (5, 38)Results (round 8): Ramteke Sumedh (5.5) lost to Dishank Sachin Bajaj (7.5), Kulkarni Nilay (7.5) bt Junghare Aditya (6.5), Bajaj Shraddha (6) bt TM Kawadkar (5), Aarav Ajit Dharmik (6) bt Savinay Meshram (5), Saksham Singh (6) bt Junghare Avanti (4.5), Naresh Kantode (4.5) lost to Chitre Arush (5.5), Ramteke Ayush (5.5), bt Maras Sahejveer Singh (4.5), Pundkar Shreyash (5) bt Wahane Kunal (4). Dutta Kanishq (5) bt Sontakke Gyandeep (4).