Women Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika regained sole lead after settling for a draw with Alisa Melekhina of United States in the ninth round of the under-14 girls' section in the World Youth Chess Championships in Heraklion, Greece.

Harika now has 7.5 points out of a possible nine and is half a point ahead of her nearest rivals, Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia, Elena Tairova and Melanie Ohme of Germany.

With just two rounds remaining in the event, Harika needs just one victory and a draw to secure the world title.

In the under-12 boys' event, IM-norm holder Parimarjan Negi scored an emphatic victory over Egeniy Pak of Russia to move to joint-second spot.

Zhao Nan of China maintained his top position after a draw with Safarli Eltaz of Azerbaijan.

As things stand now in the under-12 boys, Nan has eight points in his kitty and is followed by Negi and Chinese Ding Liren, who both have 7.5 apiece.

In the next round, Negi will have to tackle top seed Liu Qingnan of China and if the Indian boy is able to win this all-imortant contest, he will again be in contention for the gold.

Meanwhile, things worked in favour of Mary Ann Gomes in the under-12 girls' section. Having been in lead once, Mary defeated Abrahamyan Tatev of United States and moved to seven points.

The Georgian duo of Maka Purtseladze and Bela Khotenashvili continued to lead the table after drawing their ninth round games and amassed 7.5 points.

J Mohana Priya came back into reckoning for a medal in the under-10 girls category with a finely crafted victory over Diana Baciu of Moldova even as Mary Arabidze of Georgia continued to torment opposition and secured the gold medal with two rounds to spare.

Arabidze recorded her ninth victory in as many games and now Mohana Priya is in joint second spot on 7 points.

Deep Sengupta is the other Indian in with a chance to win a medal in the under-16 boys category. Sengupta accounted for Polish Moranda Wojciech and took his tally to 6.5 points. This section is currently led by Iotov Valentin of Bulgaria and Maxim Rodshtein of Israel, both have seven points.

Important results after 9th round (Indians unless specified)

Boys:

Under 10: Raymond Song (7, Aus) drew withYu Yangyi (7.5, Chn); Swiercz Dariusz (6.5, Pol) lost to Moussard Jules (8, Fra); N Srinath (6.5) drew Shth Chen Peng (6.5, Chn); David Khachykian (6, Blr) lost to Hou Yifan (7, Chn); Prasanna Rao (5.5) beat Marti& Martinez (4.5, Col); Sanjoy Singh Khumukcham (5) beat Gasimov Elmar (4, Aze).

Under 12: Zhao Nan (8, Chn) drew with Safarli Eltaj (7, Aze); Pak Evgeniy (6.5, Uzb) lost to Parimarjan Negi (7.5); Ding Liren (7.5, Chn) beat Alonso Rosell Alvar (6, Esp); Yilmaz Mustafa (6, Tur) lost to Liu Qingnan (7, Chn); Wageih Kareim (5.5, Egy) drew with Y Sandeep (5.5); S Ravi Teja (5.5) drew with Gil Popilski (5.5, Isr).

Under 14: Yuriy Kuzubov (7, Ukr) drew with Dmitry Andreikin (7, Rus); Khairullin Ildar (7.5, Rus) beat Le Quang Lem (6.5, Vie); Daniel Ludwig (7, USA) beat Falko Bindrich (6, Ger); Simonian Hrair (5.5, Arm) lost to D Sai Srinivas (6.5); Toufighi Homayoon (5, Iri) beat Sankalp Modwal (4); Sanchit Chauhan (3.5) beat Kollari Sylejman (2, FID).

Under 16: Rauf Mamedov (6.5, Aze) drew with Iotov Valentin (7, Bul); Lenic Luka (6.5, Slo) drew with Maxim Rodshtein (7, Isr); David Baramidze (6.5, Ger) drew with Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (6.5, Fra); Braun Arik (5.5, Ger) drew with S Arun Prasad (6); Moranda Wojciech (5.5, Pol) lost to Deep Sengupta (6.5); G Rohit (5.5) drew with Krivoborodov Egor (5.5, Rus).

Under 18: Daniel Stellwagen (6.5, Ned) drew with Evgeny Tomashevsky (7, Rus); Wojtaszek Radoslaw (7, Pol) beat Alexandr Kharitonov (6.5, Rus); Jones Gawain (6.5, Eng) drew with Adly Ahmed (6.5, Egy); Nana Dzagnidze (6.5, Geo) beat Ian Nepomniachtchi (6, Rus); Kim Alexey (6.5, Rus) beat Daan Brandenburg (5.5, Ned); K Nikhilesh Kumar (4) lost to Mikhail Yarmysty (5, Ukr).

Girls:

Under 10: Mary Arabidze (9, Geo) beat Samadzade Sevinj (6.5, Aze); S Tejaswini Reddy (6.5) drew with Qurbonboyeva Sarvinoz (6.5, Uzb); Diana Baciu (6, Mda) lost to J Mohana Priya (7); Camacho Chardine Cheradee (6, Phi) beat Sirisha Gutta (5).

Under 12: G Madanasri (6.5) drew with Mariya Muzychuk (6.5, Slo); Anne Haast (5, Ned) lost to P Lakshmi Sahiti (6); Irine Kharisma Sukandar (6, Ina) beat Anjali Datta (5); Amisha Parmar (5.5) beat Adam Andrea (4.5, Rom); Narmin Kazimova (4, Aze) lost to Devangi Patankar (5).

Under 14: Alisa Melekhina (6.5, USA) drew with D Harika (7.5); Anna Muzychuk (7, Slo) beat Tairova Elena (7, Rus); Ohme Melanie (7, Ger) beat Saulyte Gabriele (6, Ltu); Anjanaa N Sowjanyaa (5.5) drew with Elena Ostroverkhova (5.5, Ukr); Sobierska Wioletta (5, Pol) lost to K Lakshmi Praneetha (6).

Under 16: Maka Purtseladze (7.5, Geo) drew with Joanna Majdan (7, Pol); Bela Khotenashvili (7.5, Geo) beat Foisor Sabina-Francesca (6.5, Fra); Nebolsina Vera (6,Rus) lost to Atousa Pourkashiyan (7, Iri); Mary Ann Gomes (7) beat Abrahamyan Tatev (5.5, USA).

Under 18: Anna Burtasova (6.5, Rus) beat Kadziolka Beata (5.5, Pol); Vera Papadopoulou (5.5, Gre) lost to Marina Guseva (6.5, Rus); Lovece Ruth (3.5, Arg) lost to M Rajadharshini (5).