Shania Mae Mendoza and Bernadette Galas topped the final selection tournament for the FIDE World Chess Olympiad at the PACE in Quezon City recently to claim the last two spots in Budapest, Hungary-bound Philippine women’s team.
Mendoza, a Woman FIDE Master, and Galas, a Woman International Master, both finished unbeaten and tied for first place with 6.5 points on identical three wins and seven draws.
The pair thus joined Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna, WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda and reigning national women’s champion WFM Ruelle Canino for the team eyeing nothing less than glory in the biennial event set Sept. 10 to 23 in the Hungarian capital.
The men’s team is composed of United States-based Julio Catalino Sadorra, current national men’s titlist IM Daniel Quizon, GM John Paul Gomez and IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Paolo Bersamina.
Coaching the men’s squad is GM Eugene Torre while National Chess Federation of the Philippines chief executive officer GM Jayson Gonzales mentors the women’s side.
WFM Cherry Ann Mejia wound up third with five points, WFM Allaney Jia Doroy fourth with 4.5 points, WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego fifth with 4.5 points and WIM Kylen Joy Mordido sixth and last with three points.
It will be the fourth Olympiad stint for Mendoza after stints in 2016 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 2018 in Batumi, Georgia and last year in Chennai, India while making her first Olympiad over-the-board appearance.
