Indian men spank Uzbekistan 4-0

Grandmaster P Harikrishna pulled off an upset win over Rustam Kasimdzhanov to lead India to a 4-0 drubbing of Uzbekistan and jump to the top of the table after the second round in the men's chess team competition in the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Harikrishna stunned higher-rated Kasimdzhanov in the first match of the day between the two countries before top-ranked Indian Krishnan Sasikiran beat Filippov Anton in the second game.

Surya Sekhar Ganguly then continued the good work of the Indians by beating Alexei Barsov before G N Gopal made it 4-0 with a win over lower-rated Khamrakulov Dzhurabek.

The Indian team is now on sole lead with 7.5 points, ahead of Vietnam (seven points).

In the women's team event also, India defeated Uzbekistan 2.5-1.5 with a win and three draws to occupy third position with six points behind joint leaders China and Vietnam who are on seven points.

Woman Grandmaster Nisha Mohota scored full points against lower-rated Nodira Nodirjanova while Harika Dronavalli, Eesha Karavade and Meenakshi Subbaramiam could not force a win against lower-rated opponents.

Harika drew with Nafisa Muminova while Eesha and Meenakshi split points with Olga Sabirova and Hamrakulova Yulduz respectively.