Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
24 November 2008
After producing one of the biggest upsets at the Olympiad on Thursday by beating highly-rated Egypt, Botswana women faltered against El Salvador on Friday but still managed second position in the rankings in Category E of the tournament. Other countries in the category are Nigeria, Chinese Taipei, Angola, Tunisia, Japan, Libya, Barbados, Honduras and Surinam.
By Saturday ahead of the game against Algeria in round nine, Botswana was second in the category with 12.5. In round seven on Thursday, the women caused a major upset by overcoming fancied Egypt. Botswana's board two player and Fide Master (FM) Boikhutso Mudongo claimed the scalp of Grand Master, Mona Khaled, while Tshepiso Lopang on board one drew with International Master (IM) Basta-Sohair.
In board three, Ontiretse Sabure got her fourth straight win against her Egyptian opponent. After suffering three straight defeats, Sabure has been in hot form and got her fith win in a row against El Salvador on Friday. She was in the top 100 performers in the women's rankings on Saturday at number 93 and joint 52nd with four players on five points.After three straight defeats, Mudongo notched two straight wins and a draw with five rounds to play. Lopang had garnered 3.5 points, while first timer Gorata Sebetso had two.
The Botswana women seem to have recovered their poise as the tournament progresses. At the time of going to press, Botswana women were scheduled to play Algeria in round nine.Meanwhile, high-flying Botswana men's team player Phemelo Khetho was held to a draw by FM Larra Manuel of Uruguay, before defeating his Fiji opponent in round eight.
But Barileng Gaealashwe rose to the occasion and won for his game to make sure the team is ranked 4th in Category D, behind Japan, Jordan, and Libya. By Saturday, the Botswana team had 13.5 points after eight rounds.
Khetho was ranked 11th and tied with the 5th ranked IM Haznedarogln Kivanc of Turkey with the same number of points. The surprise mover at number two was Pakistani Waqar Mohamed while Ugandan Moulan Ayombo Jean Pierre with the same number of points as Khetho was number six.
On board four, Gaealashwe had collected four points out of eight, along with compatriot Tebogo Pitlagano while Ignatius Njobvu had two points on Saturday. Gaealashwe started playing very well from round six where he got a draw and two wins.
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