Tania Sachdev Loses Chance at World Cup

One bad move and - the dream is gone for this year. Excerpted report from The Hindu.com Tania suffers a shock defeat Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: Top seed Tania Sachdev suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Bangladeshi National champion Sultana Sharmin Shirin in the sixth round of the women’s section in the Asian zonal chess championship at the AAI Club here on Friday. International Master Tania was cruising towards victory when she blundered on the 36th move. She resigned immediately. The unexpected result threw the championship wide open in the women’s event. Tania wound up her campaign with four points from six rounds. The rest of the field would vie for the title and the lone qualification spot for the World Cup. Nisha Mohota beat Monalisa Khaboo of Nepal to take her tally to four points, and will take on National champion Kruttika Nadig in the final round on Saturday. Sultana Sharmin Shirin has 3.5 points and enjoys the advantage of being paired in the last round with Sachini Ranasinghe of Sri Lanka who has only one point in her account. Earlier coverage also from The Hindu.com: Tania loses crucial Asian Zone match, fails to qualify for WC Friday, August 14, 2009 New Delhi (PTI): Top seed and International Master Tania Sachdev's hope of qualifying for the World Cup went up in smoke after she lost her sixth and final game against Bangladesh's Sultana Sharmin Shirin in the Asian Zone 3.2 Chess Championship here on Friday. Against opponent rated 400 points below her, Tania blundered in the 36th move and immediately resigned. The Delhi teenager's loss left the championship wide open in the ladies section. National champion Kruttika Nadig and Women Grandmaster Nisha Mohota along with Sultana are now fighting for the single berth available in the World Cup. Nisha and Tania lead the table with four points but the later has completed all her matches. Kruttika, with 3.5 points, takes on Nisha in the final round, while Sultana is paired with Sachini Ranasinghe of Sri Lanka.