New Delhi, Aug 17 - International Master Sriram Jha won the Asian Zone 3.2 Chess Championship and qualified for the World Cup here Monday. In the final round encounter, Jha overcame Ashraf Ahmed of the Maldives without much struggle.

Along with World Cup berth, Jha also achieved his second Grandmaster Norm during this championship. Jha scored 10 points out of possible 12 and won the championship without losing a game.

Meanwhile, another title contender International Master K. Rathnakaran succumbed under pressure in the last round against Tunveer Gillani of Pakistan.

Veteran Grandmaster Praveen Thipsay finished second with 9.5 points beating HLM Hapuarachchi of Sri Lanka in the final round encounter. Rathnakaran and second seed Deepan Chakkravarthy tied for third spot but better tie-break score helped Rathanakran to take the third spot with 9 points.

11th round: Results (Indians otherwise stated)

Men (Round-13): GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh (8) drew with Neelotpal Das (8); Hapurachchi HLM of Sri Lanka (3) lost to GM Praveen Thipsay (9.