HYDERABAD: A father-son duo from Hyderabad will represent India at the 19th World Sudoku Championship and the 33rd World Puzzle Championship in Kolkata from October 11 to 18, with the Indian team targeting a top-five finish, as reported by DC.
Jaipal Reddy, who has represented India since 2008, and his son Kartik Reddy share a passion for puzzles and the ambition to excel at international competitions.
India's best results so far include a fifth-place finish in the team event and a 37th-place individual ranking, Jaipal said.
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"As a team, we would want to be in the top five, and individually my target is to finish in the top 40," he said.
Asian countries challenge traditional puzzle powerhouses
Jaipal said participation in the championships had more than doubled over the years. Asian countries, including Japan, China and India, are increasingly challenging the traditional dominance of Europe and America.
The championships feature standard formats and innovative variants, requiring competitors to practise regularly and adapt to unfamiliar challenges.
Selection for the Indian team is also competitive. Top solvers advance through online rounds to a national final, where the team is selected after a day-long contest featuring timed puzzles.
Kartik's international debut shaped his Sudoku journey
Kartik first represented India in the under-15 category in 2015. He described the experience as a turning point in his journey as a solver.
"It was a game changer for me. I got a lot of exposure and met young solvers from other countries who were equally enthusiastic about Sudoku," he said.
Now pursuing an MBA, Kartik balances regular practice with his academic commitments. He said he had begun consistently outperforming his father in 2023, although their contests at home remained closely fought.
Father and son have shared closely contested competitions
Their rivalry has produced memorable results. At the Mumbai round of the 2016 Times Sudoku Championship, they finished first and second, separated by just 30 seconds.
Kartik is comfortable with mathematics-based Sudoku but said greater-than Sudoku remained a challenge. The variant uses inequality clues to guide solvers towards the correct answers.