Kozhikode, Aug 25: Ending the Chinese domination, India's Koneru Humpy and D Harika grabbed the gold and silver medals respectively in the 10th Asian women's chess championship which concluded here today.
Grandmaster Humpy established her supremacy by claiming the gold with 7 points. Tournament sensation Harika took the silver pushing back Vietnam's Hoang Thanh Trang to the third spot on better average rating.
WGM Vijayalakshmi, who was in contention for the title until she drew her eighth round game with Zhang Jilin (China) yesterday, lost to Trang Xu Yuanyuan (China) who drew with Compatriot Gu Xiaobing to move up to six points and finish fourth in the championship where the Chinese held sway for several years. Defending champion Li Ruofan (China) finished a poor ninth after splitting points with Tania Sachdev.
Agreeing for a draw against Le Kieu Thien Kim (Vietnam), Humpy ensured the top position to justify her top billing in the tournament, although the Vijayawada girl had virtually won the title yesterday itself by virtue of her better average rating.
"I am very happy to win unopposed as the tournament is the toughest I have played so far," Humpy told.

Harika, who created a few upsets in the initial rounds to hog the limelight, convincingly beat Wang Yu (China) to finish second with 6.5 points after recording a better average compared to Trang.

Bureau Report