Antonio lone Pinoy entry in World Cup

Final standings:

8 points -- S. Ganguly (India), W. Zhou (China); 7.5 - Y. Yu (China), S. Yu (China), Q.L. Le (Vietnam), R. Antonio (RP), Y. Hou (China), J. Zhou (China); 7 -- C. Sandipan (India), K. Sasikiran (India), A. Kunte (India), A. Gupt (India) P. Negi (India), N.T. Nguyen (Vietnam), S. Li(Chian), M. Kazhgaleyev (Kazakhstan), A. Fillipov (Uzbekistan); 6.5 – T.H. Dao (Vietnam), Y. Wan (China), M. Al-Sayed (Qatar), W. So (RP), E. Torre (RP)

SUBIC, Philippines - GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. drew his final round match with GM Zhou Weiqi of China in the Asian Continental individual chess championship here and booked a ticket to the World Cup in Russia in November.

The quick 12-move draw of their Ruy Lopez encounter gave Antonio 7.5 points, and the Filipino ace finished joint third in the 11-round tournament topped by GM Surya Shakhar Ganguly of India and Zhou at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center late Saturday.

“This is another memorable tournament for me. Except for my 10th-round setback, I think I played well overall,” said Antonio, the next RP bet to see action in the World Cup after GM Darwin Laylo in 2007.      

This year’s World Cup will be played Nov. 20-Dec. 15 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. 

But while Antonio made it to the top-level event, GMs Wesley So and Eugene Torre fell short of their bid with stinging final round setbacks.

The 15-year-old So, the country’s best bet owing to his recent impressive performances, bowed to GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in 34 moves of the Sicilian.

Torre, on the other hand, yielded to top seed GM Krishan Sasikiran of India in 44 moves of the Nimzo-Indian.

The twin setbacks left So and Torre with only 6.5 points in joint 18th. Only the top 10 finishers gain World Cup slots.

Meanwhile, Antonio heads the big field competing in the second Subic Open international chess championship beginning today, also at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center.