INQUIRER Sports

SUBIC?GRANDMASTER ROGELIO ?Joey? Antonio Jr. turned out to be the lone bright star for the Philippine campaign in the Asian Individual chess championship here Saturday night, drawing his final round match and making it to the World Cup 2009 set in Siberia in October.

Not wanting complications, Antonio drew with Chinese GM Zhou Weiqi by repetition after just 13 moves of a Ruy Lopez to finish with 7.5 points and emerge tied for third to fifth places in the 11-round tournament won by Indian GM Surya Shekhar Sanduly at the Subic Bay and Exhibition Center.

With his strong finish, the 47-year-old Antonio made it to the World Cup again after an absence of 10 years, somewhat compensating for the setbacks suffered by top Filipino hope Wesley So and Asia?s first GM Eugene Torre.

Antonio, who attributed his resurgence to his five-month campaign in the United States where he topped 10 of 11 tournaments, competed last in the 1999 World Cup in Las Vegas after emerging as Asian Zonal champion in Myanmar.

Gunning for a win, So instead fell to Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem after 34 moves of a Sicilian-Rossolimo and wound up with 6.5 points, the same total posted by Torre, who bowed to tournament top seed GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India after 44 moves of a Nimzo Indian defense.

Ganguly, who dealt Antonio his lone setback in the 10th round, wound up with 8.0 points following a draw with Chinese GM Zhou Jianchao in their top board tussle.

Weiqi also finished with 8.0 points, but the Indian took the title and the $6,000 that goes with it through the tiebreak.