Asian Games: Indian Grandmaster Gujrathi scores twin wins, women players stutter

Gujrathi beat Prin Laohawirapap of Thailand in the third round before defeating Le Tuan Minh of Vietnam in the next to take his tally to three points

Hangzhou: Third-seeded Indian Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi bounced back from a shock loss to post victories in the third and fourth rounds of the men’s individual event at the Asian Games here on Monday.

The 28-year-old Gujrathi beat Prin Laohawirapap of Thailand in the third round before defeating Le Tuan Minh of Vietnam in the next to take his tally to three points. He is currently placed sixth.

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Along with compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, the fourth-seed, Gujrathi is on three points, half a point behind leaders – Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and top-seed Wei Yi of China after four rounds.

The 20-year-old Arjun beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in round three before settling for a draw with Iran GM Tabatabeai Seyedmohammadami. In the women’s event, India’s top players Koneru Humpy and D Harika slipped after starting with wins in the first two rounds. They were able to score only half point from the two rounds on Monday.

China’s top-seed Hou Yifan proved to be a hard nut to crack for the Indians as she beat Harika in round three and Humpy in the next. Humpy drew her game against Chinese player Zhu Jiner in round three before suffering a loss in the next match. After a loss to Yifan in the third round, Harika drew with Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan. The two Indians have 2.5 points each after four rounds along with five other players. Yifan is a point clear of the field with four points followed by Jiner.