Date:27/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/27/stories/2008112754881900.htm

Sport - Chess

Indian men finish 16th, women 15th

NEW DELHI: Indian men defeated Slovakia 3-1 to finish 16th in the Chess Olympiad on a winning note at Dresden on Tuesday.

P. Hari Krishna and Surya Shekhar Ganguly won for India while K. Sasikiran and G.N. Gopal drew.

The ladies, however, lost 1.5-2.5 to sixth seed Armenia. D. Harika blundered a knight and resigned immediately on the top board. Rest of the games were drawn. India finished 15th.

Armenia retained the open title with 19 match points after beating China 2.5-1.5 in the final round.

The ladies gold went to Georgia after being tied at 18 match points with Ukraine.

The results (11th round):

Open: India (26) bt Slovakia (27) 3-1 (K. Sasikiran drew with Sergei Movsesian; P. Hari Krishna bt Lubomir Ftacnik; Surya Shekhar Ganguly bt Tomas Petrik; G. N. Gopal drew with Peter Vavrak);

Ladies: India (25) lost to Armenia (28) 1.5-2.5 (D. Harika lost to Elina Danielian; Tania Sachdev drew with Lilit Mkrtchian; Swati Ghate drew with Nelly Aginian; Mary Ann Gomes drew with Lilit Galojan).

Standings: Open: 1. Armenia (19 match points), 2. Israel (18), 3. USA (17); 16. India (15). Ladies: 1. Georgia (18), 2. Ukraine (18), 3. USA (17); 15. India (14).