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With 14 points in their kitty, Indian women are now clear two points ahead of second-placed Ukraine and Armenia. Indian eves suffered a few hiccups after Koneru Humpy ended on the losing side in the first finished game. Tania and Vaishali once again rose to the occasion magnificently by scoring hard-fought victories, while Harika also battled hard to split the point. Vaishali played splendidly in a drawn position, pressurizing her opponent with precise positive play, and finally scored a delightful victory. While interacting with the media persons, Vaishali confessed, "Till the 40th turn, my game was dead equal, and I considered settling for a draw. After Humpy's loss, I had to keep pressing and, interestingly, this was one position which we had worked in the camp with Boris Gelfand, and I followed his suggestions to the 'T'. A hallmark of the Women's A Team has been the ability of every player to score a win when the team needed it most. Vaishali R. Image: FIDE … [Read more...] about Chess Olympiad 2022: India A Women’s team scores another thumping victory; India C team beats Switzerland 3-1

Humpy and Vaishali drew their games while Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni ended up losing their games. After winning the bronze medal Abhijit Kunte, the India A coach, was all praise for the team and said, "The team has worked really hard in the last three or four months and this is India's first-ever medal in the history of the Olympics, this should be the beginning of much better days for women's chess in India." The first women's Olympiad was held in 1957. Since 1976, women and open sections have been held together. In the open section, on the other hand, the young India B team, which impressed everyone with their brilliant performances throughout the event, handed the country its second bronze medal after thrashing Germany 3-1. India B had D Gukesh leading from the top and the start, scoring a fantastic 9/11, Nihal Sarin chipped in with a superb 7.5/10, Praggnanandhaa scoring well with 6.5/9 and Raunak Sadhwani also scoring a valuable 5.5/8. India men's … [Read more...] about Chess Olympiad 2022: India women clinch historic first-ever medal as A team secures a bronze

The early indications gave an even fight between the two teams but Vaishali proved to be the key factor as she cruised to a fine victory at the expense of experienced International Master Lela Javakhishvili of Georgia. The Berlin defence has a solid reputation, but on this day, Vaishali was well-prepared to punish it. The symmetrical set-up by the Indian gave her a tiny but lasting advantage in the middle game, and the Georgian felt the heat as her pieces gasped for breath. Finding some solace in an exchange that cost her two pieces for a rook, Javakhishvili fought on, but Vaishali was relentless and romped home in 36 moves. Grandmaster D Harika played out an easy draw with Nino Batsiashvili on the second board. The mother-to-be Indian kept things under check right from the word go with black pieces, and routine exchange of pieces led to a drawn rook and pawns endgame where neither player had any hesitation in signing the peace treaty. On the top board, Indian ace … [Read more...] about Chess Olympiad 2022: R Vaishali, Koneru Humpy help Indian eves crush Georgia, jump into sole lead

The tournament is tantalisingly poised, the race for all the three medals still wide open, with the teams bunched closely together. The last two rounds are crucial, and the top-seeded India A women's Team need to get their act going. In one of the crucial games, second seed Ukraine was held to a 2-2 draw by Georgia, and hence India A women continue to lead but are joined at the top by Georgia, Poland and Kazakhstan, all having scored 15 points each. Kazakhstan routed Bulgaria 3-1. Koneru Humpy playing the black side of a QGD showed good preparation and equalised early in the opening against Alina Kashlinskaya. Pieces were exchanged at regular intervals and players decided to split points in a dry rook ending just before the first time control. Harika Dronavalli. Image: FIDE Harika Dronavalli and Monika Soko fought in a Queen's Indian Defence, with the former enjoying an advantageous position throughout. Harika tried to combine her pieces together on the … [Read more...] about Chess Olympiad 2022 Day 9: Major setback for India women in round 9 as Poland beats A team

All the four encounters ended in deadlock and India A still continues to be in charge of the sole lead with 15 points while Georgia has inched closes with 14 points. Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia are bunched together in the third spot with 13 points each. India C Team, seeded 16th, were no match for fourth-seeded Poland and went down 1-3. India B team seeded 11th, defeated Croatia 3.5-0.5, with Vantika Agrawal, Padmini Rout, and Divya Deshmukh scoring victories and Mary Ann Gomes conceding a draw. The encounter between former Women's World Chess Champion Mariya Muzychuk and Koneru Humpy was a much-awaited one where the former opted for the Nimzo Indian defence. The players kept the position balanced with hardly any interesting moments. The periodic exchange of pieces ensured that the resultant rook and four pawn each ending was heading nowhere for either and peace was signed on the 40th turn. Interestingly if D Gukesh scored a fantastic 8/8 in the … [Read more...] about Chess Olympiad 2022: India A Women’s team held to a draw by Ukraine; B team beats Croatia; Poland defeats C

Top-seed India A were provided a winning start in the penultimate round by Humpy when she outperformed Zhansaya Abdumalik. R Vaishali, on the other hand, had to share point against Bibisara Assaubayeva before Sachdev and Kulkarni tilted the result of the match in India's favour after securing win over Xeniya Balabayeva and Guliskhan Nakhbayeva in their respective games. With just one more round remaining, India A have grabbed the leading spot with 17 points while Poland, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine are jointly holding second position with 16 points each. India B and India C also notched up identical 3-1 wins in their respective Round 10 matches. While India B defeated Netherlands with Padmini Rout, Mary Ann Gomes and Divya Deshmukh scoring victories, India C thrashed Sweden. PV Nandhidhaa and Pratyusha Bodda scored victories for India C whereas Eesha Karavade and M Varshini Sahiti settled for draws. Gukesh D. Photo credit - Madelene Belinki In other … [Read more...] about Chess Olympiad 2022: Humpy, Sachdev and Kulkarni give India sole lead in women’s section

Indian pacer Renuka Singh has stormed to the 18th spot in the ICC Women's T20I Rankings for bowlers after finishing as the top wicket-taker in the Commonwealth Games 2022. Renuka's 11 wickets have rewarded her with a top 20 entry for the first time. She made a climb of 10 spots after this performance. Also, Australian opening batter Beth Mooney has regained the top spot for batters in the ICC Women's T20I Player Rankings after losing it to her captain Meg Lanning just a couple of weeks back. Mooney capped a fine run in the Commonwealth Games with a 41-ball 61 against India in the final to finish as the top run-scorer of the tournament with 179 runs. With scores of 70 not out against Pakistan and 36 against New Zealand this past week, she is now 18 points ahead of Lanning with 743 rating points. The 28-year-old has grabbed the top position for the third time in her career, having previously been No. 1 from March 8, 2020 to March 21, 2021 and from October 9, 2021 to July 26, … [Read more...] about ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings: Renuka Singh Storms To Career-Best 18th Spot After Outstanding CWG 2022 Campaign | Cricket News

The Commonwealth Games 2022 came to an end with a lavish closing ceremony on Monday. With more than 4,500 athletes competing from 72 countries over the past 11 days, India finished with 61 medals, consisting of 22 gold, 16 silver, and 23 bronze. Thanks to the heroics of badminton stars like Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy that India could add three more gold medals. The fourth gold of the day came through 40-year-old Achanta Sharath Kamal who won the men's singles table tennis event. Meanwhile, men's hockey team won the silver medal and table tennis star G Sathiyan also grabbed the bronze medal. India finished at the fourth spot at the medals tally, with five medals less than their tally four years ago at Gold Coast. Here is the complete list of the medal winners from India, so far: Sanket Sargar (Weightlifting) -- Silver Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting) -- Gold Gururaja Poojary (Weightlifting) -- Bronze Bidyarani Devi … [Read more...] about Commonwealth Games 2022: Full List Of Indian Medal Winners | Commonwealth Games News

Badminton at the Commonwealth Games 2022 started on July 29 with the mixed team event that will conclude on August 2. The shuttlers will then shit focus to individual and doubles events the following day on August 3. The round of 64 matches across five categories - men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles - start on August 2 followed by second round, quarterfinals, semifinal and finally the medal round matches - bronze on August 7 and gold on August 8. Commonwealth Games 2022, Badminton Mixed Team: India Squad, Schedule, Points Table & Live Streaming Info A total of 88 singles players - 46 men and 42 women as well as a total of 92 doubles teams - 26 men, 24 women and 42 mixed doubles, that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations competing at the event. PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth will be among the singles shuttlers representing India at the Commonwealth Games 2022. Meanwhile, … [Read more...] about Commonwealth Games 2022 Badminton: India shuttlers in action, schedule, results, telecast, live streaming info

Prabhakar will succeed 52-year-old former Sri Lanka Test wicketkeeper-batter Pubudu Dassanayake, who recently resigned from his position and took over as the head coach of the Canada men’s team. Prabhakar was a bowling all-rounder for India and represented the country in 169 internationals. He has worked as a head coach for three Ranji Trophy teams, and served as bowling coach for Afghanistan in 2016, according to ICC. Confirming his appointment, a statement by Cricket Association of Nepal said, “Former Indian star all-rounder and Ranji trophy winning coach, Mr. Manoj Prabhakar from India has been appointed as the Head Coach of Nepal National Cricket Team." “Mr. Prabhakar has played 39 Test matches and 130 One-Day Internationals for India. As a coach, he has experience of working as coach of Afghanistan Cricket Team along with Ranji Trophy teams of Delhi, Rajasthan and UP Cricket Association,” they added. Prabhakar said the talent in Nepal cricket was something that … [Read more...] about Former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar appointed Nepal national cricket team head coach