WITH highest points in his kitty among his team members,Indian Grandmaster Nagpur’s Raunak Sadhwani helped his side Team C’Chartres Echecs clinch the French Top 16 Club Championship 2026, recently. Sadhwani was the sole Indian on the podium to finish on top in the higher pool for his team. The 21-year-old Nagpur lad garnered 3.3 points out of maximum five, highest among his other team members, which included GM Rauf Mamedov, GM Vasyl Ivanchuk, GM Maxime Lagarde, GM Laurent Fressinet, GM Gata Kamsky, GM Daniel Dardha, IM Timothe Razafindratsima, GM Namig Guliyev and IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette. The team championship was played with a team consisting of eight players each with one female player being mandatory to play in each round. Sixteen best teams of France took part in the event.The teams were divided into two groups. In each group, they competed against each other in seven rounds. At the end of first phase, the first four from each group advanced to the high pool. The remaining four teams were gathered in the lower pool. The eight teams of high pool remained in the top-16 and competed in four rounds for the title of champion of France Clubs. Team C’Chartres Echecs emerged as the best team to claim the title.