Sandipan Chanda had an easy outing

Isfahan (Iran): The Indian men rose to the occasion and snatched the lead from Vietnam by defeating them 3-1 in the important ninth and penultimate round of Asian Team Chess championship here on Tuesday.

After some mixed results throughout the championship, the Indian players performed when it mattered the most, thanks to the efforts of national champion and Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly and GM Sandipan Chanda on the second and fourth board respectively.

While Surya Sekhar scored a fine victory over GM Nguyen Anh Dung, Sandipan had it easy going against in-form teenager Le Quang Liem.

On the top board for India, GM Krishnan Sasikiran drew easily with black against Dao Thein Hai while on the third International Master S Kidambi held GM Nguyen Ngoc Truongson to get the team the much-needed victory.

With just one round remaining, the top-seeded Indians emerged as sole leaders with 27.5 points and are now virtually assured of the title in the six-team double round robin event.

Vietnam is placed second with 26 points while Iran ‘A’ is a distant third with 24.5 points. The fourth place is held by Iran ‘B’ with 15, Turkmenistan is next in line with 11 while Afghanistan is firmly in the cellar on 4 points.

In the next round, Indians will take on Iran ‘B’ and even a 2-2 draw should be enough for them to win the championship for the first time.

In the women’s event being organised simultaneously, the Indian eves did well again to beat Iran ‘A’ by a 2.5-0.5 margin but were joined by Vietnam at the top of the tables after the latter cruised to a 3-0 victory over Iran ‘B’ after the fifth and penultimate round.

Both Vietnam and India have nine points apiece now and the final round will determine the winner in this section. Both Iranian teams are on 6 points apiece.

In the final round, the Indian eves will clash with Iran ‘B’ while Vietnam will have to battle it out against Iran ‘A’.