Jorge Roberto Elías

Havana, Apr 16 (JIT) - Two consecutive victories put on track the performances of Cubans Jorge Roberto Elías and Yerisbel Miranda in the Medellín 2025 Sub-Zonal 2.3.2 Chess Tournament, in Colombia, which in each section defines a place for the upcoming World Cup.

Those performances placed Elías in 12th place, and Yerisbel in 17th, still far from the vanguard, but closer to the predictions and in better circumstances to assume the second half of the tournament.

In the Open tournament, the Cuban champion defeated locals Sebastian Montoya and Fernando Nunez on Tuesday, which allowed him to round up 3.5 points out of a possible four.

A group of seven players kept a perfect pace, but the tiebreaker system places Roberto Garcia, Cuban representing Colombia, at the top of the table. Behind him are Venezuela's Fabian Ernesto Vivas and Josue Araujo of the Dominican Republic.

Among the women, Yerisbel continued her recovery from an unfortunate start, and with the successes over the locals Isabela Brito and María José Rosario, she reached three points.

In this segment, different circumstances prevailed, since only the Colombians Ingrid Rivera and Melissa Castrillón managed to get through their four initial presentations with flying colors.

Two other Colombian players, Isabella Lopez and Nicolle Mogollon, have 3.5 scores and behind them is a group of 13 contestants -including Yerisbel- with three scratches.

With five rounds to go, the island's exponents need to show the best of their talent to make good on their favoritism and return home with the World Cup tickets.

Elias will start this Wednesday the final stretch facing Venezuelan Lorner Acosta, while Yerisbel will have on the other side of the board the local Elizabeth Toro.