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Monday, August 17, 2015

Indian Puzzle Championship 2015


The Indian Puzzle Championship (IPC) 2015 was held on 9th August, 2015. It was open and free for all. The winners would be selected to represent India at the World Puzzle Championship (WPC) 2015 in October, 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

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View Complete Results

I won! Yay!
I must say that this was possible only thanks to Prasanna organizing. He's been the best Indian in the puzzling circuit last couple of years, and still continues to spearhead the Indian contingent in puzzles.
So, I stood 1st with 930 points, with Amit in 2nd place with 774 points and Swaroop in 3rd with 725 points. Just the team I predicted, and I'm glad we made it. Definitely the best team in India today.

This is my 4th IPC title (after 2010, 2011, 2012), and it feels good to be back on top, after missing out in 2014 and the terrible performance in 2013.

Old-school Rajesh Kumar was 4th with 659 points.
Impressive performance by Ashish Kumar who stood 5th with 611 points. Certainly a hot prospect to represent India in the near future.
The usual suspects Rakesh Rai, Jayant Ameta and Jaipal Reddy complete the top-8 with 582, 560 and 506 points respectively.

Lets hope we can rock at the WPC this year and get India a top-10 rank.

"With Prasanna organizing the IPC once again, it is down to the top-3 of IPC who will join Prasanna to form the Indian team for the WPC. I fancy my chances this year, since I've been in touch lately (at least in Sudoku, by winning TSC and coming 3rd in ISC) and I'm confident of making it to the team. I was runner-up last year to Amit Sowani, with Swaroop Guggilam in 3rd.

I think Prasanna, Amit, Swaroop and me would make a strong team and I hope we finish at the top :-)
Good Luck to all participants!"

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

10 Years with 9 Digits




Left one is a picture of me (2nd from right) winning my first sudoku competition (U-16 category) at the age of 14yrs in August, 2005, and the right one is a picture of me (2nd from left) winning the Times National Sudoku Championship in August, 2015.

Its been a decade.

I'm now a three-time National Sudoku Champion (2010, 2011, 2012), having won the Times Sudoku Championship twice (2012, 2015). I've been representing India at the World Sudoku Championship since 2009, and my ranks have been 25th, 15th, 12th, 8th, 16th, 14th.
I'll be representing India for the 7th straight year at the WSC 2015 in Bulgaria in mid-October.

In 2012, I became the first and only Indian to break into the top-10 in the World (8th rank).

So much has happened in the decade. Started off as a casual past-time... which turned into a damn serious hobby but gave me an opportunity to excel at something. I'm glad all the time and effort that I put into this has resulted in success and happiness. Making my country proud and starting many new friendships with my foreign sudoku friends is an experience that will remain in my heart all my life.

Logic Masters India, the national organization that conducts the national events in India has had immense trust and faith in me, and I've tried to do my best and help them out in whichever way possible. Its very creditable that Deb Mohanty and Amit Sowani have been able to run LMI for all these years, and supported the team in various ways.
Its been so much fun competing with some of the most talented people in the country... Sumit Bothra, Ritesh Gupta, Gaurav Korde during the early years, and Rishi Puri, Prasanna Seshadri in recent years.
Kudos to you guys and all the folks who are part of LMI and the puzzling community in India!

I hope I can pursue this for at least few more years, I feel old, but I'm not done yet :-)
My aim is to encourage new talent and potential top solvers to achieve even greater success in the years to come.

I thank Mom, Dad, Sis and family for their continuous support and help. I am extremely fortunate to have been exposed to a wide varieties of activities of my interest and been given the freedom to pursue some of them as successful hobbies :-)
I also thank one more person, she's been there for me, inspiring and motivating me, witnessing and experiencing all these memories and being an integral part of this incredible journey, as a partner, mentor, friend and much more. I dedicate the TSC 2015 win to her, which coincidently was held on Friendships Day! :-)

Sudoku is my passion and if there is one message I want to put out to the world, it is Pursue Your Passion (PYP). Don't let anything stop you from doing what you enjoy the most.

I hope some day someone can better my 8th rank at WSC, and hoist the Indian flag on the podium.