{"id":42477,"date":"2025-12-29T16:54:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/?p=42477"},"modified":"2026-01-02T11:55:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:55:03","slug":"tsephe-lebajoa-and-boitumelo-sethabathaba-crowned-champions-at-2025-lesotho-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/tsephe-lebajoa-and-boitumelo-sethabathaba-crowned-champions-at-2025-lesotho-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Tsephe Lebajoa and Boitumelo Sethabathaba crowned champions at 2025 Lesotho Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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CM Tsephe Lebajoa<\/strong>, the reigning Lesotho Junior Male Sports Person of the Year, concluded a remarkable season by winning the Open title at the 2025 National Chess Championship. He secured victory with a round to spare after a commanding and consistent performance.<\/p>

This win crowns an outstanding year for the young star, marking his fifth major title in 2025 and cementing his status as one of the nation\u2019s leading players.<\/p>

Lebajoa was in scintillating form throughout the championship, recording impressive victories against several top contenders, including former national champion Lihleola Motlomelo<\/strong>, third seed Karabo Mokete<\/strong>, and fourth-ranked George Mohamed<\/strong>. His only loss came in the final round against Khama Letsatsi, after the title was already decided. Alongside the national crown, Lebajoa earned a\u00a0M5,500<\/strong>\u00a0first prize.<\/p>

Katleho Phakisi<\/strong>\u00a0claimed silver after producing one of the tournament\u2019s standout performances. Entering as the 24th seed and missing the opening round, Phakisi exceeded expectations with a superb run that echoed the promise he showed as a 15-year-old two years ago. His strong performance resulted in a gain of over\u00a0100 rating points, signaling a major return to form.<\/p>

Third place went to\u00a0Khama Letsatsi<\/strong>, who rose to the occasion in the final round with a composed and disciplined victory over the champion.<\/p>

The\u00a0Best Junior Award<\/strong>\u00a0was claimed by\u00a0Tumelo Putsoa<\/strong>, who continued his impressive run following his recent national junior title. Putsoa defeated several higher-rated opponents, reaffirming his status as one of Lesotho\u2019s brightest prospects. He finished level on points with\u00a0Batloung Lesela<\/strong>, one of the country\u2019s top performers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Honours for\u00a0Best Female Player<\/strong>\u00a0were awarded to\u00a0Boitumelo Sethabathaba<\/strong>, who delivered a strong and determined performance in a highly competitive field.\u00a0Bonolo Ntsielo<\/strong>\u00a0secured the prize for\u00a0Second Best Female Player, highlighting the growing depth of women\u2019s chess in Lesotho.<\/p>

The 2025 edition was the largest National Chess Championship to date, attracting a record\u00a062 players, including 12 under-16 competitors and 10 women. The event was further enhanced by an increased prize fund, with the champion receiving double the amount awarded to the previous winner \u2013 reflecting the growing stature and ambition of the championship.<\/p>

Complete final standings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

The organizers extend their sincere appreciation to all players, coaches, parents, and officials for their support and contribution, and look forward to welcoming the chess community again at the next edition.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CM Tsephe Lebajoa, the reigning Lesotho Junior Male Sports Person of the Year, concluded a remarkable season by winning the Open title at the 2025 National Chess Championship. He secured victory with a round to spare after a commanding and consistent performance. This win crowns an outstanding year for the young star, marking his fifth major title in 2025 and cementing his status as one of the nation\u2019s leading players. Lebajoa was in scintillating form throughout the championship, recording impressive victories against several top contenders, including former national champion Lihleola Motlomelo, third seed Karabo Mokete, and fourth-ranked George Mohamed. His only loss came in the final round against Khama Letsatsi, after the title was already decided. Alongside the national crown, Lebajoa earned a\u00a0M5,500\u00a0first prize. Katleho Phakisi\u00a0claimed silver after producing one of the tournament\u2019s standout performances. Entering as the 24th seed and missing the opening round, Phakisi exceeded expectations with a superb run that echoed the promise he showed as a 15-year-old two years ago. His strong performance resulted in a gain of over\u00a0100 rating points, signaling a major return to form. Third place went to\u00a0Khama Letsatsi, who rose to the occasion in the final round with a composed and disciplined victory over the champion. The\u00a0Best Junior Award\u00a0was claimed by\u00a0Tumelo Putsoa, who continued his impressive run following his recent national junior title. Putsoa defeated several higher-rated opponents, reaffirming his status as one of Lesotho\u2019s brightest prospects. He finished level on points with\u00a0Batloung Lesela, one of the country\u2019s top performers. Honours for\u00a0Best Female Player\u00a0were awarded to\u00a0Boitumelo Sethabathaba, who delivered a strong and determined performance in a highly competitive field.\u00a0Bonolo Ntsielo\u00a0secured the prize for\u00a0Second Best Female Player, highlighting the growing depth of women\u2019s chess in Lesotho. The 2025 edition was the largest National Chess Championship to date, attracting a record\u00a062 players, including 12 under-16 competitors and 10 women. The event was further enhanced by an increased prize fund, with the champion receiving double the amount awarded to the previous winner \u2013 reflecting the growing stature and ambition of the championship. Complete final standings The organizers extend their sincere appreciation to all players, coaches, parents, and officials for their support and contribution, and look forward to welcoming the chess community again at the next edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":42479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[232,297],"regular":[361],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-42477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-news","tag-lesotho","tag-national-championship","regular-regular"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42477"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42484,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42477\/revisions\/42484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42477"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=42477"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=42477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}