Asian Online Team Chess: India men and women enter final

B. Adhiban and R. Vaishali shone bright as the top-seeded Indian men's and women's teams entered the finals of the Asian Nations (Regions) Online Cup championship with victories over Kazakhstan and Mongolia respectively on Saturday.

While the men beat Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5 and 3-1, the women's team claimed 3.5-0.5 and 4-0 wins over Mongolia.

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Adhiban notched up important victories over Rinat Jumabayev on the top board in both his matches.

In the first match, India rode on Adhiban’s win while Nihal Sarin, SP Sethuraman and K. Sasikiran drew their games.

In the second match, Adhiban, Sarin and Sethuraman won their respective games but Sasikiran lost to Denis Makhnev.

The Indian team, led by Surya Sekhar Ganguly, will face Australia in Sunday’s final. Ganguly did not play on Saturday.

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In the women’s semifinal, India was in dominant form and won both the matches comprehensively.

Vaishali, winner of the gold medal on the top board in the preliminary phase, won both her games against Batkhuyag Munguntuul.

Led by Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes, the Indians will meet Indonesia in the women's final on Sunday.

Along with Vaishali, Padmini Rout and P. V. Nandhidhaa also recorded wins against their opponents in the first match, while Gomes drew her game. In the second match, Vaishali, Bhakti Kulkarni, Rout and Nandhidhaa all won as India took a 4-0 victory.