India A Men continue to dominate as India A Women Stumble

Men

Today, round four, in a clash of favourites, we had Vietnam looking to halt India A's seemingly unstoppable progress towards Gold. In the end however India prevailed 2.5-1.5 but it was hard going all the way with Surya Shekar Ganguly (see above photo) and captain Krishan Sasikiran making the difference against Vietnam's sole win by Le Quang Liem.

Indonesia, still smarting from their humiliating defeat the previous round against India A, took on the still unbeaten Iran side but were well beaten by a team which continued their title challenge with a comprehensive 1-3 victory.

Lower down, Sri Lanka played Bangladesh who proved to be too strong an opponent, and with their 1-3 win, successfully leapfrogged up the standings, while Singapore only lost 1.5-2.5 after taking the fight to an India B side who cannot be satisfied yet with their performance to date despite having drawn tough matches every round so far.

In the final match, honours were even between Yemen and Nepal 2-2.

Standings:
1. India A 8 pts; 2. Iran 7 pts; 3. Vietnam 5 pts; 4-6. India B, Indonesia, Bangladesh 4 pts; 7. Sri Lanka 3 pts; 8-9. Singapore, Yemen 2 pts; 10. Nepal 1 pt.


Women

Co-leader Vietnam took on Iran on top board and won a tense encounter 2.5-1.5 while the other co-leader India A lost 1.5-2.5 against India B.

Bhakti Kulkarni (see photo above) provided the decisive point for India B in a serious set back to India A's hope of emerging as champions.
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In the meantime Bangladesh fell to Singapore 0-4 and Sri Lanka were also big winners with a 4-0 score against Nepal as the Indonesians, with the 2-2 bye, enjoyed the day off (by coming to watch the games!).

Standings:
1.Vietnam 7 pts; 2-4. India A, India B, Singapore 5 pts; 5-6. Iran, Indonesia 4 pts; 7. Sri Lanka 3 pts; 8. Bangladesh 2 pts; 9. Nepal 1 pt.