India Wins Gold With A Sweep
By Arvind Aaron

Indians have done it in style with a round to spare. It could not have been better. The 2.5-0.5 win over Indonesia have top seed India establish a 5.5-point lead with one round still to be played on Thursday. We are already sure of the gold medal even if we dont win any of the final round match.

Significantly, India has won all its eight matches and are looking for more. Indian chess is in celebration mode. "When we have Humpy on the third board, she is strong and almost puts us ahead in the three board match," said AICF Secretary D.V.Sundar about India's  biggest strength. These are days of celebration for the Indian chess players, the pre-match training camp of Lev Psakhis at Chennai blended the team together and we performed as a unit and humbled the mighty Chinese in a team competition.

Krishnan Sasikiran played at his career best in this event and should be getting close to the 2700 rating mark after this sweeping 7.5/8 score. Harikrishna made an equally good 6.5/8 and Humpy made 7/8. Nobody could have asked these players to perform better. There is lots to cheer in the camp which consists of coach IM Manuel Aaron and manager Bharat Singh Chauhan.

The mood to score more points is there for the asking and Sasikiran is looking for more points and ratings. What is left is for others to decide the silver  and bronze medal! India should play Kazakhstan in the final round before receiving the gold medals.

Here is a sample reaction. Indians have been calling and congratulating on this victory. Also sending SMS from mobiles to share the moment of joy. WGM Tania Sachdev of Delhi who is in Chennai said, "Well deserved. A proud moment for chess."

Standings after eight rounds: 1 India 21/24, 2 China 15.5, 3 Qatar 15, 4 Kazakhstan 14.5, 5 - 8 Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Iran  and Indonesia 13.5 each...21 teams.