BENGALURU: The open team suffered their first loss at the Olympiad, but the women's side bounced back with a statement win over the US outfit. The open side, who were on a five-match winning streak, ran into hosts Uzbekistan.
In a battle between two of the favourites for the title, there were draws on three of the four boards but Nihal Sarin, while in a promising position, blundered his queen and lost his way against Nodirbek Yakubboev. Playing with the black pieces, the Indian GM was very comfortable, both in terms of time as well as the position.
In fact, he had an advantage but because of his desire to push for a win, he played a very committal 37. Nf5. A few moves later, he lost his queen. Even though Sarin tried to fight gamely, he was in a totally lost endgame when he resigned just after 50 moves.
The women's team, fresh off a loss against Poland in the fifth round, bounced back in some style to take down a fellow medal contender. In the process, they jumped to fourth place in the standings.
Even though both the top boards -- Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh -- had to settle for draws, both Vantika Agrawal and the highly impressive B Savitha Shri converted winning advantages to give the defending champions a big win just before the first and only rest day.
Results
Open
Uzbekistan 2-0 India
(Nodirbek Abdusattarov drew with R Praggnanandhaa, Javokhir Sindarov drew with Arjun Erigaisi, Nodirbek Yakubboev bt Nihal Sarin, Shamsiddin Vokhidov drew with D Gukesh)
Women: India 2-0 US
Koneru Humpy drew with Carissa Yip, Divya Deshmukh drew with Alice Lee, Vantika Agrawal bt Irina Krush, B Savitha Shri bt Rose Atwell