Indian women (16/18) topped the group after the ninth round in the Asian Nations (Regions) Online Cup 2020 and now face Kyrgyzstan in the quarter-finals. Strong performance by Indian women team captain Mary Ann Gomes 5/5, well supported by Padmini Rout (7.5/9), Vaishali R (6.5/9) and Nandhidhaa P V (4.5/6) kept India on top of the table. In the rounds 7 to 9, India women defeated Philippines (3-1), Kazakhstan (2.5-1.5) and Vietnam (2.5-1.5).
Indian men (12/18) qualified through the preliminaries thanks to Krishnan Sasikiran (8/9) and Nihal Sarin (4/5). Captain Surya Sekhar Ganguly with five wins & two losses, logged 5/7 as India moved into the knock-out stage. Iran topped the group with 15/18 score, one point ahead of The Philippines and Mongolia.
In the rounds 7 to 9, Indian men lost to The Philippines 1.5-2.5, beat Bangladesh 3.5-0.5 and drew with Australia 2-2 in the final round. Indian men need to be on their best forms, as there are no comebacks after the knock-out stage. Mongolia, with an average Elo 2285 is a dark horse & could pose a stiff challenge for India in the quarter-finals.
The knock-out stage quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday, 23rd October (11.30 am IST), followed by semi-finals and finals on 24th and 25th October, 2020.
Complete Results :