The Indian eves could not keep the momentum and lost to Georgia 1-3 in the eighth and penultimate round of World women team chess championship in Mardin, Turkey.
On what turned out to be a bad day, none of the Indians could really make a mark and the losses by Tania Sachdev and Soumya Swaminathan paved the way for an easy Georgian victory in the end.
Ukraine caused the biggest surprise of the championship with a sensational 2.5-1.5 victory over leaders China. Though this did not turn out to be any great setback for the leading team, the Ukrainian eves certainly came into reckoning after a rather subdued performance in the first half. In fact, despite the loss, China is already assured of the Gold medal.
Russia scored an expected 4-0 victory over South Africa while Greece tamed Turkey 3.5-0.5. In the other match of the day, Armenian eves got the better of their Vietnamese counterpart 2.5-1.5.
With just one game to go in the premier team event, China still remains ahead on 14 points, two points clear of second placed Russia, while the Indian girls are now in third spot with 11 points.
Georgia and Ukraine are another point adrift of the Indians and the remaining two medals should come out of these teams.
Indians have a tall task on hand as they need to at least draw with China in the final round, while Georgia and Ukraine have relatively easier opposition to tackle in the final round.
Koneru Humpy played out a draw with white pieces against nana Dzagnidze on a day when Indian luck seems to be running out. For a decent score against Georgia, Humpy's board was crucial but Nana Dzagnidze who is also a Grandmaster like the Indian, had it easy with regulation exchanges in the middle game.
Harika played well to get an easy equality as black against Lela Javakhishvili but shocking was Tania Sachdev's loss to Bela Khotenashvili on the third board. In a level position, Tania missed the thread and ended up blundering a piece for little compensation.
On the fourth board too, Soumya Swaminathan went down to Nino Khurtsidze without much ado.
Results: Round 8: India (11 points) lost to Georgia (10) 1-3 (Koneru Humpy drew with Nana Dzagnidze; Lela Jevakhishvili drew with D Harika; Tania Sachdev lost to Bela Khotaneshvili; Nino Khurtsidze beat Soumya Swaminathan); Ukraine (10) beat China (14) 2.5-1.5; South Africa (0) lost to Russia (12) 0-4; Armenia (8) beat Vietnam (8) 2.5-1.5; Turkey (6) lost to Greece (3) 0.5-3.5.
