Guangzhou: Grandmaster GN Gopal's defeat against Ni Hua cost India dearly as it lost the fourth-round match to higher rated China in the men's chess team event to slip to the second position in the Asian Games here on Sunday.
Grandmasters P Harikrishna, Krishnan Sasikiran and Surya Sekhar Ganguly drew their games to keep India afloat but Gopal failed to negotiate the gameplan of Ni Hua as India lost 1.5-2.5 to China.
Harikrishna drew with Wang Yue, while Sasikiran split points with Wang Hoa. Ganguly signed peace with Bu Xiangzhi but with Gopal losing the crucial encounter, India slipped to the second place with six points in the 17-team nine-round competition that ends on November 26.
India and Phillipines both have six points in their kitty, two points adrift of China, who are now at the top of the table with eight points.
In the women category, India pulled off a scintillating win over lower-ranked Vietnam, courtesy Tania Sachdev's brilliant win over Pham Le Thao Nguyen.
While Tania won her match, her teammates - Harika Dronavalli, Esha Karavade and Meenakshi Subbaraman - were denied victory by their respective opponents in other games.
International Master Harika began the show for the Indian women with a draw against World Grandmaster Hoang Thi Bao Tram.
Tania Sachdev then put India ahead with a win over Nguyen in the second game, before Esha, an International Master, and World Grand Master Meenakshi, split points with World Grandmaster Nguyen Thi Thanh An and Nguyen Thi Thoug Van respectively.
Indian women now share the first place with China with seven points after the fourth round.
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