Pearl Point National Age Group

Tomorrow most Malaysian top junior chess players will participate in the National Age-Group will be held at Pearl Point shopping mall on Jalan Kelang Lama. There are five age groups for each boys and girls meaning has 10 categories. Based on the players list displayed at http://malaysianchessfederation.blogspot.com/ , below are the summary :

• U8 Boys - 34 participants 
• U8 Girls - 18 participants
• U10 Boys - 67 participants
• U10 Girls - 28 participants
• U12 Boys - 80 participants 
  
• U12 Girls - 35 participants
  
• U14 Boys - 74 participants
  
• U14 Girls - 36 participants
  
• U16 Boys - 67 participants
  
• U16 Girls - 28 participants
  

What can GiLoCatur say or observe based on the above numbers:

• Boys are more than Girls,  322 to 145, it is about double. Malaysian parents should encourage their daughters to play chess. Girls also can excel and benefit from playing chess.
• Age-groups of U12 and U14, players aged between 11 to 14 years old, are the most participants meaning that they are the ones shall be developed and trained to be future Malaysian chess greats.
• Girl players tend to decrease for the upper secondary, 16 years old and above. Is it because they tend to focus more on studies and the SPM exam preparation? Because it is a common perception that the entry for boarding schools, colleges or universities for girls are tougher and tight for girls since they have better results.

Who are GiLoCatur's favourites to win the age-groups??

• U8 Boys - GiLoCatur picks Amier Hamzah from KL. 
• U8 Girls - Puteri Munajjah has the edge to be the champion for this category.
• U10 Boys - Yeoh Li Tian shall be the obvious champion. His main challenger shall be Aziz Farhan. Sirajuddin from Kedah may make upset provided that he is on-form.
• U10 Girls - Is either Puteri Rifqah or Nur Najiha shall lead this category. Kelly is also a strong player and may make upset 
• U12 Boys - Irfan Haqqim has better chance to be the champion for this section but he has may tough challengers like Faizan Roslan, Daniel Iskandar, Roshan and Shreyes.
• U12 Girls - NJM Nabila is the favourite. Her challengers shall be the Kedahan girl, Fairuz Hamizah and Tan Li Ting
• U14 Boys - Yeap Eng Chiam is the favourite to win this age-group. He is the individual champion for U15 Boys in the recent MSSM tournament. Elgin Lee shall be his closest rival.
• U14 Girls - Vickie Hong Wee Ki shall win this category. Her toughest opponents shall be Sarika Subramaniam from Pahang and Amira Syahmina from Selangor.
• U16 Boys - This section has many strong players who can be the champion. Nabil, Syakir, Sumant, Izz Shaifudin, and Evan Timothy from Penang. (GiLoCatur : Did not notice earlier that NM Edward Lee is participating. Surely, he is one of the favourites.)
• U16 Girls - Alia Anin Azwa shall be the favourite to win this section. 

GiLoCatur's eldest son, Fikri, and daughter, Anis Fariha, will also participate in the tournament. Fikri will play in U14 category while Anis Fariha will play in U12 category along with few of her Selangor MSS team mates - NJM Nabila, Ee Sun-Xin, and Chew Ee Wen.

Several Anis's SKBJ school mates will also participate in the tournament. They are :

• U8B - Faqih. Ilham Qayyum (pre-schoolers)
• U10B - Ihsan Syahiran, Afiq Jamil
• U10G - Nur Faqihah
• U12B - Aminur Nirza, Irfan Rendrawan, Arif Jamil, 
• U12G - Aina Farzana 

Anyway, BEST OF LUCK to all particpants in the National Age-Group tomorrow!!