Indian women secure gold with 13 points in blitz event at Asian Nations Cup
Four Indian women have struck gold in the blitz event at the Asian Nations Cup chess tournament in Hamedan, Iran on Friday. Both the Indian teams have achieved a podium finish with the men winning the silver and the women claiming the bronze after the declaration of the final result.
The men, featuring B. Adhiban, S.P. Sethuraman, K. Sasikaran, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, and Abhijeet Gupta finished second (10 points) behind Iran Green (13 points), who won the championship. However, India vanquished Iran White (3.5-0.5) in the final round.
On the other hand, the women’s squad comprising D. Harika, R. Vaishali, Eesha Karvade, Padmini Rout, and Aakanksha Hagawane drew against Iran Green 2-2 in the final round and managed to bag bronze with 8 points. China won the women’s round with 13 points on the board and Vietnam (10 points) finished second.
However, the women struck gold, scoring 13 points in the blitz event overpowering Vietnam (12 points) and China (9 points) by a few points while the men had to settle for the fourth spot with 8 points behind Iran Green (14), China (12) and Vietnam (10).
Harika won the silver on the first in the individual’s category while Eesha (third), Padmini (fourth) and Aakanksha (fifth) took the bronze. Later on, the men fared even better with Sethuraman (second board) and Sasikiran (third) bagging the gold while Adhiban (first) won the silver.