Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), June 26:
The Indian men and women missed out on the podium by a whisker as they finished fourth in both the categories at the World Team Chess Championships here.
The last round went well for both Indian men and women as they scored fine victories over Norway and Azerbaijan respectively.
However, the men lost the penultimate round encounter against Russia by 1.5-2.5 that cost them a medal.
The women were quite lucky to win the penultimate round encounter against Vietnam as both D Harika and Tania Sachdev fought back from nearly lost positions to save the day for their side.
Harika took a rest against Azerbaijan but that did not deter the Indian eves from winning comprehensively for a fourth place finish.
It may be recalled that the Indian eves had also finished fourth in the previous edition of the championship held in China in 2015.
China won the championship in the open section with 16 points while Russia finished second on 15 points. Poland snatched the bronze on 12 points, a point clear of the Indian men.
The Indian men had also finished fourth in the last Chess Olympiad held in Azerbaijan last year.
The Chinese were clinical in the last round as they scored 2.5-1.5 victory over Poland, thanks to a fine victory by Li Chao on the fourth board. The Russians were ferocious as they handed out a 4-0 defeat to the United States.(PTI)
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