MARDIN, Turkey - Chinese team was defeated by Ukraine 1.5-2.5 in the eighth round, but still won the 2011 World Women Chess Team Championship (WWTC) as India and Russia lost their chance to catch up in Mardin province of southeastern Turkey.
World champions Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi draw with their rivals while Zhao Xue on the third board suffered a setback.
On the other hand, India which had been following China lost to Georgia 1-3. Moreover, Russia won 4-0 against South Africa 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. In this case, although China experienced the first defeat but still became the world champions before the ultimate fight.
Chinese coach Yu Shaoteng said: "It seems our players felt tired as a result we lost the game. Hou Yifan's opponent Mariya Muzychuk just wanted a deuce while she was the white side. It is quite difficult to beat her in such a situation. However, the important thing is we became the champions. Tomorrow's match is not significant for the team but for the players themselves."
In other matchups, Armenia defeated Vietnam, Russia beat South Africa, Greece ousted Turkey, and Georgia edged off India.
