Saranya Devi Narahari Becomes 2026 Asian Junior Girls Blitz Champion

by Devansh Singh - 18/08/2026

Saranya Devi Narahari scored an unbeaten 6.5/7 to win the Asian Junior Girls Blitz Chess Championship 2026. Lala Shohradova of Turkmenistan scored 6/7 points to finish in second place. Bhat Sannidhi Ramakrishna scored 5.5/7 to finish in 3rd place. Saranya drew her 2nd game and scored five consecutive wins to clinch the title. The tournament was organised on 17th August at ITC Maratha, Mumbai. Photos: Tushar Damor

Total Domination

Saranya Devi Narahari showed complete control and domination throughout the tournament. She finished with 6.5/7 and won the tournament with a half-point lead. After drawing the 2nd round against Bhillva Nilaya Kondari Eswara Krishna, she scored 5 wins in a row. In the final round, Prishtha Gupta suffered a loss against Shohradova, and Shohradova secured 2nd place.

Champion: Saranya Devi Narahari (IND)

Second runner-up: Bhat Sannidhi Ramakrishna

Top 3 (L to R): 3rd Bhat Sannidhi Ramakrishna (IND), 1st Saranya Devi Narahari (IND) and Lala Shohradova (TKM)

Saranya during one of her games

Saranya defeated Shanmathi Sree S. in the final round and increased her rating by 61.6 points

Replay Available Games

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	9	WFM	Saranya Devi Narahari,	F20	w	IND	1912	6,5	6	22,5	26
2	5	WFM	Shohradova, Lala	F20	w	TKM	2030	6	5	23,5	26,5
3	34		Bhat, Sannidhi Ramakrishna	F20	w	IND	1772	5,5	5	20,5	23
4	11	FM	Prishita Gupta,	F20	w	IND	1878	5	5	27	30
5	14	WCM	Shanmathi Sree S,	F20	w	IND	1860	5	5	24,5	27,5
6	23	WCM	Anushka Bapu Kutwal,	F20	w	IND	1803	5	5	24	27
7	35	AIM	Tripurambika V,	F20	w	IND	1763	5	5	23	27
8	8	WCM	Kirthika, B	F20	w	IND	1926	5	5	19	21,5
9	25	WCM	Sravyasree Bheemarasetty,	F20	w	IND	1796	5	4	25,5	29
10	4	WFM	Nivedita V C,	F20	w	IND	2060	5	4	23,5	27,5

Details

Photo Gallery: Here

Organising Committee

Trophies for the winners

Games in action

All winners of 2026 Asian Junior Rapid and Blitz

Venue: ITC Maratha, Mumbai

Such a beautiful venue for this amazing tournament

Playing Conditions

The tournament is played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess, using electronic clocks.
Standard: 90 minutes for the whole game with a 30-second increment per move from move 1. Forfeit time is 30 minutes.
Rapid: 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move from move 1.
Blitz: 3 minutes plus a 2-second increment per move from move 1.
Per FIDE regulations, players from the same federation may be paired against each other in the last round.

Titles and Awards

A minimum of 5 federations per category and 10 participants is required for direct titles in Standard chess (see the FIDE Handbook). Direct titles are awarded for Standard chess per the FIDE Handbook:

Gold medalists are awarded a GM norm and the International Master (IM) title (for women, a WGM norm and the Woman International Master (WIM) title). Players scoring the same number of points as the champion also receive the IM/WIM title.
The silver & bronze medal winners are awarded the IM/WIM norm in addition to the FIDE Master (FM)/Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title.

Minimum Ratings (for immediate award): IM 2200 · WIM 2000 · FM 2100 · WFM 1900