Gholom and Hammad in chess title battle

The UAE's Salim Gholom and Syrian Ahmed Hammad will face each other in the ninth and final round of the Ramadan Open chess tournament, organised by the Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club, after the two players shared the lead with seven points from eight rounds.

Gholom beat Syrian Hani Al Sharef, former joint leader, in the eighth round while Hammad, the Syrian under-20 champion, defeated Egyptian Ahmed Faraj to maintain the lead in the tournament, sponsored by Cleanco Co.

In other eighth round matches, Sudan's Faisal Tajul Sir lost to the UK's John Bennett, India's Ali Mohul Din quelled the challenge from Palestinian Mustafa Kabbouli while Yemen's Mohammed Zain Belfagih defeated Sudan's Jamal Al Noor.

India's Abu Baker Ali beat Sudan's Jamal Hassan, Shahul Hameed overcame the UAE's Rashid Gholom, Abdul Hakim Sameer emerged victorious against Syria's Rami Jerji, Pakistan's Faroog Rana conquered Sudan's Hayder Mubarak and Iran's Majeed Riza beat Palestinian Aref Al Hindi.

In the last round, Mohul Din will face Bennett, each with 6.5 points, Zain will play against Abu Baker Ali, Al Sharef will meet Sameer, Faraj will tussle with Shahul Hameed and Rana will cross swords with Syrian Mustafa Kareem. The final will be held tonight at the same venue of the competition under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Ahmed Al Hamed and winners of the Rapid, Blitz and Open tournaments will be presented with trophies and cash prizes.

India's Ali Mohul Din won the Rapid tournament with the UAE's Talib Moussa finishing second, Palestinian Mustafa Kabbouli third, India's T. Sajid fourth, Syria's Ahmed Hammad fifth and India's Abu Baker Ali sixth.

The UAE's Suhail Abdul Rahim won the Blitz tournament, Ali Mohul Din finished second, Pakistan's Rana was third and Syria's Suhail Sukkary was fourth. The UAE's best players of the tournament, Faisal Kishwani and Abdulla Mohammed Salih, will also be honoured.