India @ WPC and WSC

Rohan Rao improves WPC performance in 2011

The 20th World Puzzle Championship was held in Eger, Hungary from 8th-13th November, 2011. Team India was represented by Rohan Rao, Rajesh Kumar, Rajib Ranjan Borah and Tejal Phatak. Rohan Rao was the best Indian performer and stood 34th improving on his last year's rank of 41st. Rajesh Kumar, participating in his 6th WPC, stood 85th with a rusty performance. Rajib Ranjan Borah and Tejal Phatak stood 91st and 97th respectively.

Team India finishes 8th overall

The 6th World Sudoku Championship was held in Eger, Hungary from 6th-10th November, 2011. Team India was represented by Rohan Rao, Sumit Bothra, Tejal Phatak and Prasanna Seshadri. Rohan Rao stood 12th and missed the playoffs by a few points. Sumit Bothra, back after a 2-year break, stood 44th. Debutants Tejal Phatak and Prasanna Seshadri stood 54th and 71st respectively. In the team standings, India stood 8th which is the second best performance in a WSC.

Rohan Rao wins ISC-IPC double for 2nd year in a row

Defending champion Rohan Rao won the Indian Puzzle Championship 2011 after shoving off a stiff competition from last year's runner up Rajesh Kumar. Rajesh took an early lead in the first round, but Rohan came back strongly to win with 1020 points. Rajesh finished 2nd with 775 points and a fantastic performance by Harmeet Singh who finished 3rd with 555 points. The famous duo of Sumit and Ritesh tied at 480 completes the top 5.

Defending champion Rohan Rao wins ISC 2011 again

Defending champion Rohan Rao won the Indian Sudoku Championship 2011 with a clinical performance making it two in two years. Rohan scored 1895 with a comfortable lead over second place Ritesh Gupta scoring 1155 and third place Sumit Bothra with 1140 points. Tejal Phatak stood fourth completing the Indian team with 1105. Last year’s finalist Gaurav Korde was a shade lower than his best and stood 5th.

Rohan Rao is best Indian performer at WPC 2010.

The 19th World Puzzle Championship was held in Warsaw, Poland in October. Team India was represented by Rohan Rao, Rajesh Kumar, Tejal Phatak and Aman Pruthi. Rohan Rao improved on his 2008 performance and stood 41st. Rajesh Kumar broke his 60's jinx by standing 54th. Debutants Aman Pruthi and Tejal Phatak enjoyed their experience and stood 81st and 95th respectively.

Rohan Rao pips Rajesh Kumar to win IPC 2010

The Indian Puzzle Championship 2010 was held online on 12th September. It was a close fight with Rohan Rao (1795) winning by a small margin from four-time and defending champion Rajesh Kumar (1755). Rohan, thus became the 2nd person, after Ritesh Gupta, to win ISC and IPC in the same year. These two were way ahead of the rest with Gaurav Korde (1120), Tejal Phatak (1115) and Aman Pruthi (1090) completing the top 5.

Rohan Rao wins special prize and finishes 15th

The 5th World Sudoku Championship was held in Philadelphia, USA in April-May. India Team A comprised of Rohan Rao, Gaurav Korde and Ritesh Gupta. With the highest score in Round 10 earning him a special prize, Rohan improved his last year's rank of 25th with 15th. Gaurav Korde was close behind in 20th. Ritesh stood 42nd. Jaipal Reddy stood 59th and Asha Siddaiah, in her first WSC, stood 96th.

Rohan Rao is the new National Sudoku Champion ending three year reign of Ritesh Gupta

The Indian Sudoku Championship was organised in association with TechFest at IIT Bombay on 24th January 2010. Preliminary online rounds were held on 3rd and 9th of January. Rohan Rao top scored thorugh all the preliminary rounds to be the top contender, and after a hiccup in the semifinals, finished the finals first to become the new National Sudoku Champion. Rishi Puri who was in first position after the semifinals made a small error in the finals to come in second position. Gaurav Korde and Ritesh Gupta made a late surge in the playoffs to come in third and fourth respectively. Rakesh Rai, Jaipal Reddy, Asha S, Himani Shah and Nidhi Sarawagi gave consistent performances to make it to the top 9 for the semifinals. The top 6 will represent India at the World Sudoku Championship to be held in Philadelphia, USA.

Top 4 at ISC 2010 Finals at TechFest, IIT Bombay : Rohan Rao, Rishi Puri, Gaurav Korde and Ritesh Gupta.

Rajesh Kumar retains title as national puzzle champion

Rajesh Kumar top scored in the Indian Puzzle Championship held online on 04th October 2009 to retain the national puzzle champion for a fifth time. The Indian team for the World Puzzle Championship held in Antalya, Turkey consisted of Puneet Goenka, Lovely Krishna, Harmeet Singh and Jaipal Reddy.

Indian Team at WPC 09

Ritesh Gupta completes hat-trick of National Sudoku Champion titles. Gaurav Korde is best Indian performer at Zilina.

Ritesh Gupta top scored in the Indian Sudoku Championship held online on 14-15th March 2009 to retain his title as National Sudoku Champion. The two Indian teams for the World Sudoku Championship 2009 held in Zilina, Slovakia consisted. The Indian A team performed extremely well with all three, Gaurav, Ritesh and Rohan bagging top 20 positions and making it to the playoffs. Albeit the fact that the playoffs consisted of 36 participants this was a landmark achievement, since it was the first time that participants from any Indian team had made it to the playoffs of a world championship.

Indian Team at WSC 09: Gaurav Korde, Puneet Goenka, Rohan Rao, Ritesh Gupta, Lovely Krishna and Himanshu Mittal

Rajesh Kumar crowned National Puzzle Champion for a fourth time.

The National puzzle championship was held in October 2008. The winner was Rajesh Kumar, who won the title for the fourth time. Click here to check the npc2008 website. The Indian team to Minsk, Belarus consisted of Rohan Rao, Jaipal Reddy and Lenson Andrade. Rohan in his first appearance at a world championship showed great promise in cracking the puzzles created by Vladimir Potugalov.

Indian Team at WPC 08: Rohan Rao, Jaipal Reddy and Lenson Andrade

World Sudoku Championship organised in Goa, India. Thomas Snyder wins individual title, with Czech Republic taking the team honours. India bags 7th position with Sumit Bothra in 13th.

The 3rd World Sudoku Championship was organised in Goa, India from 14-17th April 2008 by Hendrik Hardeman from Novax Media along with Deb Mohanty, Amit Sowani and Rishi Puri. The Indian team put in their best performance till date by winning the 7th position in the team rankings. Sumit Bothra was the best performer from the Indian team once again finishing in 13th position. Ritesh Gupta who had earlier won the National Sudoku Championship for a second time came in close behind in 25th position. Thomas Snyder won both, the Classics as well as the Individual trophy. Czech Republic put in a sterling performance to win the team event. The competition also saw some outstanding performances by Jakub Ondrousek in the classics rounds.

Indian Team at WSC 08, Goa: Omkar Hendre, Jaipal Reddy, Ritesh Gupta, Himani Shah, Amit Sowani, Rajesh Kumar, Sumit Bothra and Gaurav Korde.

Ritesh Gupta wins Sudoku Masters 2008 to be crowned National Sudoku Champion again.

Ritesh Gupta top scored in Sudoku Masters 2008 held in Bangalore on 23rd March 2008 to retain his title as the National Sudoku Champion. Sumit Bothra the wild card entrant courtesy his performance in WSC 2007, proved his selection by coming 2nd. Himani Shah was third while Rajesh Kumar scraped into fourth positio to make it to the Indian team once again. Jaipal Reddy, Gaurav Korde and Omkar Hendre who were in positions 5 to 7 were invited to the WSC as guests of the host team.

Participants at SM08 in Bangalore.

Ritesh Gupta wins Logic Masters 2007 to be crowned National Puzzle Champion. Amit Sowani is best Indian performer at Rio de Janeiro.

Ritesh Gupta top scored in Logic Masters Masters 2007 to win the title of National Puzzle Champion. Amit Sowani justified his wild card entry courtesy his performance in WPC 2006, by coming in 2nd. Rajesh Kumar and Sumit Bothra complete the team of four. The Indian team gave its best performance in a WPC till date with a 13th position improving upon previous best of 18th. Amit Sowani was the best perfomer from the Indian team to finish in 28th position.

Indian Team at WPC 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Sumit Bothra, Amit Sowani, Rajesh Kumar, Ritesh Gupta and captain Hendrik Hardeman.

Indian team stands 13th at the 2nd World Sudoku Championship. Sumit Bothra is the best Indian performer at Prague, Czech Republic.

Sumit Bothra put in a strong performance to come in 30th position and the best Indian performer at the WSC in Prague. He was followed closely by Amit Sowani and Ritesh Gupta in 50th and 54th positions. Rajesh Kumar was fourth to be a part of the team round. The team put in consistent performances to finish in 13th position.

Indian Team at WSC 2007 in Prague, Czech Republic: Sumit Bothra, Ritesh Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, captain Hendril Hardeman, Himani Shah, Amit Sowani and Rishi Puri.

Ritesh Gupta wins first National Sudoku Championship organised by Novax Media in association with Times of India.

The National Sudoku Championship was organised by Hendrik Hardeman from Novax Media in association with Times Of India. Ritesh Gupta raced ahead of 60 participants selected from 5 cities across India to win the title of National Sudoku Champion. Rishi Puri and Sumit Bothra who were the toppers from the regional rounds finished in 2nd and 3rd positions. Amit Sowani who topped the preliminary rounds fell back in the playoffs to finish in 4th position. Himani Shah and Rajesh Kumar were the last two members to be selected as a part of the Indian team for the 2nd World Sudoku Championship in Prague.

Indian team 18th at WPC 2006 in Borovets, Bulgaria. Amit Sowani is the best Indian performer.

Amit Sowani put in a good debut performance at the world championships to finish in 56th. Rajesh Kumar, who had won the National Puzzle Championship earlier, finished close behind in 69th position. The Indian team improved upon its previous performances at the WPC to finish in 18th position.

Indian Team at WPC 2006 in Borovets, Bulgaria: Amit Sowani, Rajesh Kumar, captain Hendrik Hardeman, Raghavendra Ganesh and Amit Agarwal.

Sudhir Shankar Raman is the best Indian performer at first World Sudoku Championship in Lucca, Italy.

A three member Indian team organised by Hendrik Hardeman, participated at the first World Sudoku Championship in Lucca. Sudhir Shankar Raman was the best Indian performer finishing in 46th position.

Indian Team at WSC 2006 in Lucca, Italy: Amit Agarwal, Sudhir Shankar Raman, Rajiv Aggarwal.

India was represented by two teams at the 14th WPC in Eger, Hungary. Rajesh Kumar, Amit Agarwal, Srihari Mullapudi and Vinay Deshineni were part of the A team, while Aditya Utturwar, Deb Mohanty, Prem Swaroop and Sudhir Shankar Raman were part of team B. Rajiv Kumar Agarwal was part of a UN team.

Indian Team at WPC 2005 in Eger, Hungary.

The first full Indian team was selected to represent India at the WPC thanks mainly due to the efforts of Hendrik Hardeman. Rajesh Kumar was the best Indian performer as the Indian team stood 22nd.

Indian Team at WPC 2004 in Opatija, Croatia: Aditya Utturwar, Prateek Agrawal, Rajesh Kumar and Rajib Borah