SUBIC (Philippines), Dec 3 — National chess squad manager Firdaus Ismail is optimistic that more success will follow for Malaysia after Yeoh Li Tian’s triumph in Men’s Rapid Chess event at the 30th SEA Games here today.

London-based Yeoh, 20, bagged the first gold in the sport after securing the highest number of points from nine rounds played at the Travelers Hotel here.

In the ninth round, Yeoh only recorded a 0.5-point draw with Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, but it was enough for him to win the gold.

"We are also hopeful of a medal from Nur Najiha Azman Hisham in the women’s Blitz event, as she won the bronze at the 2017 East Asian Women’s and Youth Championships in Tagaytay City, the Philippines.

"But everything is up to fate, and we must hope that Yeoh’s victory will inspire other chess players to come up with similar results,” Firdaus told Bernama here today.

In addition to the Rapid and Blitz categories, the ‘ASEAN’ category is also being contested at the 2019 SEA Games.

Chess was contested in the 2003 edition of the Games in Vietnam, 2005 (Philippines), 2011 (Indonesia) and 2013 in Myanmar. — Bernama