Olympiad: Indian men finish sixth, women eighth as China sweeps titles

In the final round, seeded five in both sections, India was held 2-2 by Poland with draws on all four boards. In the women section, India struck late to beat Mongolia 3-1.

Indian men took the sixth spot and the women finished eighth in the Chess Olympiad on Friday. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

Indian men took the sixth spot and the women finished eighth in the Chess Olympiad that concluded on Friday. In the 11th and final round, seeded five in both sections, India was held 2-2 by Poland with draws on all four boards. In the women section, India struck late to beat Mongolia 3-1, with the victorious duo of Tania Sachdev and Padmini Rout providing the margin of triumph.

READ: A look at this year's Chess Olympiad

Even as the men topped a nine-team tie for the sixth place, the women were part of a nine-team tie for the fourth spot before the Russians finished at the top of the heap on better tie-break scores. China, seeded three in both sections, made history by sweeping the titles due to its superior tie-break scores. In the open section, China topped a three-way tie at 18 match-points with USA and Russia. The unbeaten Chinese women, too, aggregated 18 match-points, like Ukraine. Host Georgia 1 (17) took the third spot.  

11th round results: Open: India (16) drew with Poland (17) 2-2 (Viswanathan Anand drew with Jan-Krzysztof Duda; P. Hari Krishna drew with Radoslaw Wojtaszek; Vidit Gujarati drew with Kacper Piorun; B. Adhiban drew with Jacek Tomczak); USA (18) drew with China (18) 2-2; France (16) lost to Russia (18) 1.5-2.5; Germany (16) drew with Armenia (16) 2-2; Ukraine (16) drew with Czech Republic (16) 2-2; England (17) bt Kazakhstan (15) 3.5-0.5. Standings: 1. China, 2. USA, 3. Russia. 6. India. Women: Mongolia (14) lost to India (16) 1-3 (Batkhuyang Munguntuul drew with D. Harika; Davaademberel Nomin-Erdene lost to Tania Sachdev; Turmunkh Munkhzul drew with Eesha Karavade; Dulamsuren Yanjindulam lost to Padmini Rout); Russia (16) drew with China (18) 2-2; USA (16) lost to Ukraine (18) 1-3; Armenia (16) lost to Georgia 1 (17) 1-3; Vietnam (15) drew with Azerbaijan (15) 2-2;  Hungary (16) bt Slovenia (14) 3.5-0.5. Standings: 1. China, 2. Ukraine, 3. Georgia 1. 8. India.