SITGES: After two straight wins, India went down 1-3 to a formidable Russian team in a fourth Pool A match in the FIDE World Women’s Team Chess Championship, here.
India, which has qualified for the quarterfinals, will face France in the fifth and final preliminary match later on Wednesday.
D Harika, the top Indian player, held Aleksandra Goryachkina to a draw as did Mary Ann Gomes against Polina Shuvalova but Tania Sachdev and R Vaishali suffered defeats as the team lost to Russia in the fourth round late on Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Indian women had beaten a strong Armenia 2.5-1.5 in the third round.
Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni notched up the important wins to set up the victory over Armenia.
Harika had settled for a draw against Elina Danielian while the talented, young Vaishali lost to Lilit Mkrtchian.
India and Armenia now have 5 points each after four rounds behind Russia (8).
A team gets two points for winning a match and one for a draw.
In the India-Russia encounter, the higher rated Katernya Lagno and Alexandra Kosteniuk put it across Tania Sachdev and Vaishali to assert the Russian team’s superiority.
After drawing 2-2 with Azerbaijan in the opener, India had beaten Spain 2.5-1.5 in round two.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
