Round 8: China experiences the first defeat but becomes the World Champion! |
CONGRATULATIONS TO CHINESE TEAM THAT IS WORLD CHAMPION WITH ONE ROUND TO GO!
In the penultimate round of the championship Ukrainian players embraced themselves in a tough match against China to score 2.5-1.5. Natalia Zhukova won against Zhao Xue on the third board and all the rest games were drawn. China lost the first match points in the tournament, but... already became a champion!
The reason is that India who had been following China lost to Georgia 1-3. The first two boards made draws, while Bela Khotenashvili won against Tania Sachdev on the third board and Nino Khurtsidze outplayed Soumya Swaminathan on the fourth.
Russia won 4-0 against RSA and jumped on the second rank, but cannot catch China by board points, even if there is still a theoretical chance to catch it by match points.
Armenia scored 2.5-1.5 win against Vietnam, Greece win against Turkey 3.5-0.5.
Standings after 8 rounds: China – 14; Russia – 12; India – 11; Georgia, Ukraine – 10; Armenia, Vietnam – 8; Turkey – 4; Greece – 3; RSA – 0.
You can find the pictures of round 8 in the Photo Gallery.
The ultimate fight for silver and bronze medals will begin at 10am local time on the 27th of December. Don’t miss it!
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