Indian eves beat Cuba; men go down to Poland

Khanty Mansiysk (Russia): Indian eves returned to winning ways defeating Cuba, while their male

counterparts suffered a 1-3 loss to Polland in the ninth round of the 39th Chess Olympiad here. Eesha Karavade provided the vital victory on board three when Eesha Karavade defeated Oleiny Linares Napoles to give India the vital 2.5-1.5 victory. Having lost to Russia in the previous round when they were routed 3.5-0.5, the eves bounced back against Cuba despite resting their top star D Harika. The other three boards were drawn. Russia I virtually assured themselves a gold medal with their ninth victory on the trot to take their points tally to an unassailable 18. The 100 per cent winning record thus has given the Russian women a huge four points lead over the nearest rivals, China, Ukraine, Georgia, India and Bulgaria who all share the second spot on 14 points each. With just two rounds to go in the Olympiad, the Indian team faces China in what could be the deciding barrier between them and a possible medal. The absence of Koneru Humpy further will compound India`s misery. The result against Cuba could have been different but for Tania Sachdev who faught back from an inferior position to hold her fort against Lisandra Teresa Ordaz Valdes. "At some point, I might even have been better but looking at a bad position for such a long time I am happy with the result, especially as our team won and our medal hopes are alive," said Tania after the game. On the other two boards, Yaniet Marrero Lopez drew with S Meenakshi, while Nisha Mohota did not push too hard against Maritza Arribas Robaina to ensure an Indian victory. Meanwhile, in the open section the Indian team lost out on medal hopes after they were outskilled by Poland 1-3. Surya Sekhar Ganguly`s poor form was a major blow for the Indian results as he succumbed to his third loss in a row. In the ninth round game, Ganguly went down to Miton Kamil while Mateusz Bartel defeated B Adhiban on the fourth board. On the remaining two boards, Krishnan Sasikiran played out a draw with Radoslav Wojtaszek while P Harikrishna got the same result against Bartosz Socko. The loss left Indian men on 11 points and they might finish in top ten with two wins in the last two rounds. Ukraine remained atop the tables in what is seen as an extremely well-contested open section. With 16 points in their bag, the Ukrainians are followed by Russia I and France who both have 15 points each. Azerbaijan lost to Ukraine 1.5-2.5 losing on the last two boards. The way things have been going for Ukraine, they look like the team to beat and France may fancy their chances in the penultimate round. PTI