January 20, 2011 - 11:24 AMT
ARTICLE
Siranush Andriasyan wins Armenian Women’s Chess Championsip
Review of January 13-20 sports events.
Chess Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian defeated Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi to climb to the 3rd place in the standings with 2.5 points at the 73rd Tata SteelChess tournament on Wijk-aan-Zee. In the next round he will play v. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia). Gabriel Sargissian scored 2.5 points in tournament B, beating Wouter Spoelman of the Netherlands. In round 5, he will rival Li Chao (China).

Siranush Andriasyan won the Armenian Women’s Chess Championship, scoring 5 victories and tying 4 games. She was granted AMD 300 thousand and included in the Armenian national chess team. Andriasyan is followed by Anahit Kharatyan and Lia Martirosyan, who received AMD 200 and 150 thousand respectively.

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Defeating Ara Minasyan in round 2,Hrant Melkumyan took the lead at the 71st Armenian Chess Championship. Arman Pashikyan scored a victory over Tigran Kotanjyan while Avetik Grigoryan and Tigran Petrosyan won their 2nd round games with Robert Hovhannisyan and Ashot Anastasyan respectively. David Petrosyan – Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and Artashes Minasyan – Zaven Andriasyan games ended in a draw.

Football: FC Mika dropped out of CIS and Baltic States Commonwealth Cup. Mika lost 0:4 to Azerbaijan’s Inter in the quarterfinals.

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Armenian team fullback Robert Arzumanyan, who participates in casting of Slask Wroclaw Polish football club, gave his first interview to the club’s official website. “Many football clubs displayed interest towards me, but I have chosen the Polish club. Hopefully, I will manage to stay in it,” said Arzumanyan. Arzumanyan also said he will try to display his best qualities in the upcoming match of Slask.

Futsal: Armenia’s futsal team will leave for Iceland to participate in the preliminary round of the UEFA Futsal EURO 2012. Armenia will rival Iceland, Greece and Latvia in Group B on January 21-24. Only the group winner will qualify for the next round. Chief Coach of the Armenian team Ruben Nazaretyan invited 14 sportsmen to the team.

Tennis: Argentina's David Nalbandian was beaten by Spain’s David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3 in Heineken Open finals. He climbed 6 positions to find himself 21st with 1,610 points in the men’s tennis rankings released by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Spaniard Rafael Nadal (12,390 points) continues to top the rankings, followed by Roger Federer (Switzerland) with 9,245 points and Novak Djokovic (Serbia) with 6,240 points. Nalbandian defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the first round of the Australian Open 2011. Hewitt's brave fifth-set fightback wasn't enough as he let a two sets to one lead evaporate to lose 3-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 9-7 in four hours and 48 minutes.

Boxing: WBO #1 super welterweight Vanes Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs) is off the February 5 Top Rank LIVE card at the Activities Center in Maywood, California. Martirosyan was scheduled for an eight-rounder, but no suitable opponent could be found. Manager Steve Fader told Fightnews.com that Vanes will work one-on-one with trainer Freddie Roach for two solid weeks and be ready for a bout in March.

Judo: Armenian judo team started a training session in Abovyan town to last till January 26. Afterwards, the judoists will depart for Tbilisi to participate in a World Cup tournament scheduled for January 29-30. “All tournament and training sessions will offer the sportsmen an opportunity to prepare for the European Championships,” coach Artur Gevorgyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. Armenian judoists will also take part in international tournaments in Budapest, Dusseldorf and Warsaw.

Gohar Nalbandyan, Hasmik Babayan / PanARMENIAN News