Indian men out of medal contention

The Indian men's team, seeded second, suffered a humiliating 1-3 defeat at the hands of Israel and bowed out of medal contention, while the women stayed in the reckoning for top honours after a 2-1 victory over Romania in the 11th round of the Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy.

On a day when Armenia almost made sure of winning the gold medal with a comprehensive 3-1 victory over Czech Republic, the top seeded Russian men suffered a setback at the hands of the United States, going down by a minimal 1.5-2.5 score.

After the disaster against Israel even two big victories now seem inadequate for a medal for the India team, led by World No 2 Viswanathan Anand.

Anand and P Harikrishna drew their games while Krishnan Sasikrian and Sandipan Chanda ended on the losing side.

The women's team, however, kept themselves in contention for a medal with a 2-1 victory over Romania, with Swati Ghate emerging winner on the third board and Koneru Humpy and D

Harika drawing on other boards.

The Ukraine eves consolidated their position at the top with a 2.5-0.5 victory over Bulgaria and now enjoy a full point lead over the Russian ladies, who won with a 2-1 score against Georgia.

While Ukraine is now on 25.5 points and Russians right behind on 24, the Indian eves edged themselves up to 21.5 after beating Romania.

Important results round 11 open:

Men: Armenia (32) beat Czech Republic (27.5) 3-1; China (28.5) lost to France (28.5) 1.5-2.5; USA (28) beat Russia (28) 2.5-1.5; Uzbekistan (26.5) lost to Cuba (27.5) 1.5-2.5; Romania (26.5) drew with Georgia (26.5) 2-2; Azerbaijan (25.5) lost to Ukraine (27.5) 1-3; Hungary (26.5) v/s Denmark (26.5) 2-2; India (25.5) lost to Israel (27.5) 1-3.

Women: Bulgaria (20) lost to Ukraine (25.5) 0.5-2.5; Georgia (21) lost to Russia (24.5) 1-2; China (23.5) beat Greece (19.5) 3-0; India (21.5) beat Romania (20) 2-1; USA (21.5) beat Slovenia (19.5) 2.5-0.5; France (20.5) drew with Armenia (20,5) 1,5-1.5; Hungary (20.5) beat Croatia (19.5) 2-1; Poland (20) drew with Latvia (19.5) 1.5-1.5; Netherlands (20) beat Vietnam (18.5) 2-1.