Indian Women won strike Gold, Men settle for Silver

Top seeded Indian Women beat Indonesia 6-2 (3-1 & 3-1) clinching the Gold medal in the finals of the Asian Nations (Regions) Online Cup 2020. In a closely fought match, Indian Men went down 3.5 – 4.5 (1.5 – 2.5 & 2-2) to Australia settling for the Silver.

In the back-to-back matches Indian Women facing Indonesia showed excellent form winning the first & second match with a comprehensive 6-2 (3-1 & 3-1) score. IM Padmini Rout & WGM Nandhidhaa P V won both their games paving way for the rest of the players to complete the job. The first match saw Indian women winning two games and splitting points in the other two for a 3-1 finish. In the second match it was fought till the end, as India won three games and Indonesia won a lone game, completing the 3-1 score.

In the knock-out phase, Padmini Rout and Nandhidhaa P V were impressive scoring cent percent 6/6. The in-form duo were well supported by Vaishali R 4.5/6 and Bhakti Kulkarni 3.5/6. Kudos to the Captain Woman Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes for bringing the best out of these Women fetching India the Gold medal with an impeccable show.

In the battle for Gold in the Men’s section, top seed India went down to Australia, losing the first match 1.5-2.5 and drawing the reverse one 2-2. In the first match Australian GMs Smirnov Anton and Illingworth Max defeated Indian GMs Adhiban B & Sethuraman S P giving the Oz an unbeatable lead. GMs Nihal Sarin and Krishnan Sasikiran were faced with a must win situation, where Nihal drew and Sasikiran won, as India fell short and lost the first match with a 1.5 – 2.5 score.

In the reverse match-up India facing Australia, were in a must win situation. But a final 2-2 score put paid to the Indian Men’s hopes for a Gold medal finish. GMs Adhiban and Sasikran drew their games, while Ganguly defeated GM Illingworth Max. A loss in the second board by young GM Nihal Sarin was enough for Australia to take the top spot.

Earlier, in the semi-finals played yesterday, Indian Men overcame Kazakhstan 5.5-2.5, while Indian Women outplayed Mongolia 7-1.

Final Placings (Men) 1 Australia, 2 India, 3 Iran, 4 Kazakhstan, 5 Singapore, 6 MOngolia, 7 Indonesia, 8 The Philippines.

Final placings (Women) 1 India, 2 Indonesia, 3 The Philippines, 4 Mongolia, 5 Iran, 6 Vietnam, 7 Sri Lanka, 8 Kyrgyztan.

AICF President Mr. P. R. V. Raja Congratulated both men and women teams for their success​

Complete Results :

http://chess-results.com/tnr538372.aspx?lan=1&art=0&turdet=YES&flag=30