NEW DELHI: The Indian men's and women's chess teams delivered impressive performances on Friday in the eighth round of the chess team competition at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The men's team convincingly defeated South Korea with a score of 3.5-0.5, while the women's team thrashed Hong Kong with a perfect 4-0 score.
After eight rounds of competition, both Indian teams find themselves in second place, with one round remaining.
In the match against South Korea, D Gukesh secured a victory against Junhyeok Lee on the top board, and Praggnanandhaa emerged victorious against Se Hyun Kwan.
Arjun Erigaisi fought hard and eventually won against In-Jung Gu, despite the Korean player initially holding an advantage. P Harikrishna, an experienced player, managed to salvage a draw against Ahn Hongjin from what seemed like a lost position.
The top-seeded men's team is set to face the Philippines in the final round, while Iran will compete against South Korea.
In the women's match, India had an easy time as D Harika, R Vaishali, Vantika Agarwal, and B Savitha Shri secured comfortable victories. None of the Hong Kong players had an Elo rating above 2000, and the powerful Indian lineup dominated their opponents.
As for the standings, in the men's section, Iran maintains the lead with 14 match points, closely followed by India with 13 match points. China is in third place with 12 match points, and Uzbekistan follows with 11.
In the women's section, China remains at the top with 15 match points, holding a two-point lead over second-placed India, while Kazakhstan is further behind with 11 match points.
In the upcoming ninth and final round, India's men's team will face South Korea, while the women's team will compete against the UAE, as they aim to finish strong in the competition.
(With PTI inputs)
