National champion Khemraj Pooranmall on Sunday narrowly defended his `A’ Class title edging out rival Lyndon Heywood by a single point when the Guyana Draughts Association held its annual `A’ and `B’ Class tournaments at the National Gymnasium.
Pooranmall ended the `A’ Class competition with 16 points while Heywood was second with 15 points and Jiaram third with 14 points.
A tie breaker between Linden’s Floyd Cumberbatch and Ulric Brathwaite saw Cumberbatch taking the fourth spot.
On Saturday, senior ‘B’ class player Ulric Brathwaite amassed 18 points to win that division ahead of Navin Megbarran with 16 points.
Heywood and Rudolph Gentle were tied on 15 points but Heywood won the tie-breaker to take third place.
On Saturday, president of the GDA Jiaram summoned the players to observe one minute’s silence for former national champion Elton Lambert who passed away on May 25 this year after a prolonged illness.
The championships will conclude Sunday with play in the 100 squares competition. Pooranmall is the defending champion and the tournament is open to all players.