China sweep Asian team chess

China swept the Asian team chess titles in both the men's and women's sections with crushing performances in the ninth and final round in Jodhpur on Wednesday.

The Chinese men crushed Malaysia 4-0 to emerge 1.5 points ahead of the India 'A' team that got the silver medal by  trouncing Turkmenistan 3.5-0.5.

The bronze medal went to India 'C', who beat Iran 3-1 in the final round.

In the women's event, finished on top, after taking all draws against Turkmenistan.

The silver in this category went to Vietnam after they beat Malaysia with an absolute score while India 'A' had to be content with the bronze after they were held to a 1.5-1.5 draw by Kazakhstan.

For India 'C' it was a fantastic achievement in the men's section, as they might not even have got the chance to play but for some confusion over arrival of teams. The team's star was International Master Lanka Ravi, who got his maiden  Grandmaster norm in the process. Ravi had all the more reason to be happy as he was a last-minute replacement for IM S Satyapragyan.

Asia's youngest International Women Master Dronavalli Harika added another feather to her cap by bagging the gold medal for best individual performance for the India 'A' team on the fourth board.

In the final round game, Harika was the only one in the team to score a victory.

The top board gold went to World women's champion Zhu Chen even after she was upset by Women Grandmaster S Vijayalakshmi of India 'A' in the third round match. On the second board World Cup champion Xu Yuhua won the gold while on the third board Le Kieu Thien of Vietnam scored the maximum.

Veteran GM Pravin Thipsay also won the gold medal on the second board despite his team, India 'B', getting a bye in the final round. India 'B' was the only team to beat China in the tournament but they threw away their chances for a medal after a lacklustre show in the penultimate round.

Amongst a huge Indian contingent of 27 players, also finishing among medals in the men's section were GM Sasikiran, who got the bronze on board one, Dinesh Kumar Sharma, who won the silver on board four and Abhijit Kunte, who won silver on board five.

In the women's event S Meenakshi won the silver medal on top board for the Indian 'B' team, Swati Ghate won the silver on board two for India 'B', Anupama Gokhale won the silver on board three for India 'C' while Sai Meera Ravi won the bronze for India 'C' on the fourth board.

Results final round:

Men:

China (25) beat Malaysia (16) 4-0 (Ye Jiang Chuan beat Wong ZI Jing; Zhang Zhong beat marcus Chan; Xu Jun beat Nicholas Chan; Zha.5na; A Ovezov lost to Dibyendu Barua; H Odeev drew Abhijit Kunte).

Iran (17.5) lost to India 'C' (23) 1-3 (Ghaem Maghami beat Neelotpal Das; S Ghani lost to Sriram Jha; M Darban lost to Lanka Ravi; Arash Roghani lost to Dinesh Kumar Sharma).

Sri Lanka (9.5) lost to Kazakhstan (22.5) 1-3 (G L Wijesuriya lost to Darmen Sadvakasov; C K D Fonseka lost to Pavel Kotsur; G C Anurudha beat N Ibraev; D R N K B Dehigama lost to B Askarov).

Vietnam (21.5) beat Kyrgyzstan (11.5) 3.5-0.5 (Dao Thein Hai beat M Turpanov; Nguyen Anh Dung beat T Imanliev; Tu Hoang Thong beat A Shukuraliev; To Quoc Khanh drew A Umarbekov).

Macau (4) lost to Vietnam (20) 0-4; Soloman Celis lost to Saidali Iuldachev; Chang Hon Kun lost to Safin Shukrat; Mak Keng Kei lost to Dzhumaev Marat; Radolfo Abelgas lost to Tahir Vakhidov).

India 'B' (21) had a bye.

Women:

Turkmenistan (9.5) drew China (20) 1.5-1.5 (M Ovezova drew Xu Yuhua; B Hallaeva drew Wang Yu; A Malikgulyewa drew Huang Qian).

Kazakhstan (16) drew India 'A' (18.5) 1.5-1.5 (M Sergeeva beat Nisha Mohota; A Turebaeva drew Aarthie Ramaswamy; Son Assya lost to D Harika).

Vietnam (19) beat Malaysia (7) 3-0 (Hoang Thang Trang beat Siti Zulaika; Nguyen Thi Thanhan beat M Roslina; Le Kieu Thien Kim beat Ruslan Haslindah).

Bangladesh (9.5) lost to India 'B' (17.5) 1-2 (Rani Hamid lost to S Meenakshi; Zakia Sultana beat Swati Ghate; A.5odhya; Sai Meera Ravi beat M Thushari).

Iran (13.5) drew Kyrgyzstan (10.5) 1.5-1.5 (Atousa Pourkashiyan beat I Ostry; Shadi Paridar lost to A Samaganova; Salman Mahini Mona drew J Tilenbaeva).

Final standings:

Men: 1. China (25); 2. India 'A' (23.5); 3. India 'C' (23); 4. Kazakhstan (22.5); 5. Vietnam (21.5); 6. India 'B' (21); 7. Uzbekistan (20); 8. Turkmenistan (19); 9. Iran (17.5); 10. Malaysia (16); 11. Kyrgyzstan (11.5); 12. Sri Lanka (9.5) 13. Macau (4).

Women: 1. China (20); 2. Vietnam (19); 3. India 'A' (18.5); 4-5. India 'B' (17.5, 117.5 tiebreak), India 'C' (17.5, 116.5 tie-break); 6. Kazakhstan (16); 7. Iran (13.5); 8. Kyrgyzstan (10.5); 9-10; Bangladesh (9.5, 123 tiebreak), Turkmenistan (9.5, 116 tie-break); 11. Malaysia (7); 12. Sri Lanka (3.5).

Individual medal winners:

Men:

1st Board: Gold:  Dao Thien Hai (Vie)7.0/9; Silver: Ye Jiang Chuan (Chn) 5.5/8; Bronze: K Sasikrian (Ind 'A') 5.5/8.

2nd Board: Gold: Pravin Thipsay (Ind 'B') 5.5/7; Silver: Mahjoob Murteza (Iran) 5.0/7; Bronze: Pavel Kotsur (Kaz) 5.5/8.

3rd Board: Gold: Lanka Ravi (Ind 'C') 7.5/9; Silver Xu Jun (Chn) 6.5/9; Bronze: Tu Hoang Thong (Vie) 6.0/9.

4th Board: Gold: Zhang Pengxiang (Chn) 7.0/8; Silver: Dinesh Kumar Sharma (Ind 'C') 6.5/8; Bronze: H Odeev (Tkm) 7.0/9.

5th Board: Gold: B Askarov (Kaz) 4.5/5; Silver: Abhijit Kunte (Ind 'A') 5.0/7; Bronze: Tahir Vakhidov (Uzb) 3.5/5.

Women:

1st Board: Gold: Zhu Chen (Chn) 5.5/7; Silver: Maria Sergeeva (Kaz) 6.0/8; Bronze: S Meenakshi (Ind 'B') 6.5/9

2nd Board: Gold: Xu Yuhua (Chn) 7.0/9; Silver: Swati Ghate (Ind 'B') 6.5/9; Bronze Shadi Paridar (Iran) 6.0/9

3rd Board: Gold: Le Kiev Thien Kim (Vie) 5.0/7; Silver: Anupama Gokhale (Ind 'C') 5.0/7; Bronze: Wang Yu (Chn) 4.5/7

4th Board: Gold: D Harika (Ind 'A') 6.0/7; Silver: Vo Hong Phuong (Vie) 4.0/5; Bronze: Sai Meera Ravi 4.5/6.