Philippine Sports News and Updates

Sadorra (ELO 2423) trounced IM Dmitry Batsanin (2474) of Russia late Saturday to raise his total to 1.5 points even as IM John Paul Gomez (2469) bowed to Russian IM Pavel Potapov to remain with just a point to show.

In the fourth round late Sunday, Sadorra will meet Bangladeshi GM Al-Rakib Abdulla (2506), who beat FIDE Master Cegmed Batchuluun (2432) of Mongolia while Gomez will square off with Polish FM Arkadiusz Leniart (2315), who split the point with Grandmaster Alexander Obukhov (2458) of Russia.

Both Filipinos lost in the first round Thursday. They arrived in the Russian capital just hours before the Aeroflot Open got under way.

But they bounced back into contention on Friday as Gomez stunned fellow IM Andrei Purtov (2403) of Russia while Sadorra forged a draw with IM Abdullah Hassan (2328) of the United Arab Emirates.

Sadorra, a former RP youth champ, took the place of 14-year-old GM-elect Wesley So, who could not go to Moscow due to his studies.

On the other hand, four-time national junior champion Gomez, De La Salle University’s brightest varsity star and a UAAP gold medalist, was an 11th-hour replacement for GM Mark Paragua.

GM Marat Askarov (2521) of Russia and GM Shukhrat Safin (2493) of Uzbekistan hurdled their respective rivals to share the lead with 3 points.

Askarov beat GM Alexander Krapivin (2483) of Russia while Safin defeated GM Alexander Potapov (2459) of Russia.