Filipina chess player wins, boosts World Cup bid

Filipina chess player Janelle Mae Frayna won her seventh-round match against Uzbekistan's Madinabonu Khalilova in the Asian Individual Chess Championships on Tuesday, boosting her World Cup bid.

Frayna demonstrated precision in dismantling Khalilova's Sicilian Defense and executed a decisive mating attack to secure the win in 39 moves.

With this victory, Frayna is now tied for sixth place with five points, just one point behind leaders WGM Seshadri Srija of India and Bat-Erdene Mangunzul of Mongolia.

To have a legitimate shot at securing one of the two tickets to the FIDE World Cup scheduled for July 5-29 in Batumi, Georgia, Frayna must win her remaining two matches.

Her teammates Marie Antoinette San Diego, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas are still competing but with fewer points than Frayna.