Muscat,ONA) - The National Chess Team qualified today for the second round at the conclusion of the preliminary qualifiers for the World Chess Olympiad, after winning third place in its group of 10 teams.

The national team managed to collect 13 points to finish in the third place ranking in its group. Myanmar finished first after winning 18 points while Brunei finished second in the playoffs with 16 points. The Pakistani team came in fourth place, behind our team, with 13 points, with a breaking-the-tie difference in favour of the national team.

During the competitions, the national team presented an honourable level in the championship, winning 6 games, losing two games and having a draw. The results of the team were as follows: On the first day of the qualifiers, it won its first game over the Macao team 4-2 and continued its path by beating Somalia 5-1, and it tied with Pakistan 3-3 due to a technical error.

On the second day, it achieved a third victory over Fiji, 3.5-2.5, and a fourth victory at the expense of Bhutan, while losing from the Brunei team 4-5 and 1-5.

On the third and last day, it managed to beat Guam 5-3 and 5-2, and scored an impressive victory over Laos 6-0, while it lost from the first seeded in the tournament, the Myanmar national team 0-6.

The competitions for the second round of the tournament will start next Friday, the first day of Eid Al-Adha. The Sultanate will be represented by 12 players from the various age groups listed in the Olympics, namely men, women, male juniors and female juniors.

In the men's category, the national team is represented by Salem Al-Amri, Amin Al-Ansi and Mohammed Al-Amri, while in the junior category, it is represented by Hamoud Al-Busaidi, Abdul Rahman Al-Zadjali and Anas Al-Daroushi.

The girls and young women team is represented by Wafia Al-Ghafri, Anat Al-Isayiah, Al-Anoud Al-Ghafri, Rawan Al-Baloushiya, Kamlah Al-Ghaferiya and Maryam Al-Baloushiya, in addition to the participation of the international team coach, Bashir Al-Qadimi.

(ONA)