It seems that Sri Lanka is taking the world of sports by storm as the young Oshini Devinya Gunawardena has managed to bring home a win via online chess championship.
Oshini who represented Sri Lanka at the 2021 Online FIDE World Youth Chess Championship, has won the Under 10 Girls Chess Championship this year. These championship are now being held online so that the youngsters like Oshini who has been working hard towards the tournament still have a chance to compete and shine.
There are young competitors from all over the world who take part in this and Ms. Gunawardena had to beat a few hundred people to get to the top. Whilst she was playing the final game she was not in any way ruffled or nervous and kept a cool head, which was what ultimately won her the prize.
She had to defeat Megan Althea Paragua of the United States of America in the final to bring home the win. She had the entire nation supporting her as well as her coach Akila Kavinda. This support and encouragement helped her get through the tough final.
She is a student of Ferguson Girls’ High School, Ratnapura which is a province in Sri Lanka. Schools now encourage youth to take part in these kinds of extracurricular as it helps them develop. The Sri Lanka Chess Federation awarded Rs. 100,000 cash prize to the World Youth Chess Champion and a cash prize of Rs. 50,000will be awarded to the best complement.
