Bengaluru, Dec 19 (PTI) Major Dhyan Chand Scholarship Award worth Rs 28.80 lakh will be offered to 48 zonal winners of the SOG Grandmasters Series, the organisers of the mind sports events announced after the South Zone finals on Thursday.

The competition, organised by Skillhub Online Games Federation, was held in three categories -- eChess, Blind Chess and Rummy and a total of 132 players competed for the top spots.

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Kishan Gangoli, Gopi R and Venkat Reddy emerged winners in the Indian Chess Masters for Blind (ICMB), while Marthandan and Ira Chavan won the Indian Chess Masters (ICM) men's and women's events respectively.

"The scholarship will provide year-long assistance to 12 winners from each zone, amounting to a total of INR 28.80 lac," said a press release.

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"Through the Major Dhyan Chand scholarship, these winners will go on to encourage more individuals to embrace mind sports as a meaningful and serious pursuit."

"Through the Major Dhyan Chand scholarship, we aim to further uplift mind sports by providing critical support to the players, and with three more zones to go and the West Zonal Finals up next, we eagerly anticipate even higher levels of competition as we progress toward the National Finals," said SOGF President Shankar Aggarwal.

The action now shifts to the West Zonal Finals of the SOGF Grandmasters Series to be played in Mumbai next year followed by the North and the East Zonal Finals slated to take place in the months ahead.

These regional competitions are building up to the highly anticipated National Finals, scheduled for April 2025 in New Delhi.

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