China-1 narrowly beat Singapore 2½-1½ as IM Kevin Goh upset Chinese GM Li Chao. Ding Liren and Yu Yangyi countered to give China 2 points. The top board game between Singapore GM Zhang Zhong and Wang Yue ended in a draw after almost five hours of play.
India inched closer to the leader after crushing Mongolia 3½-½ on wins by GMs Hari Krishna, Negi and Gopal. The board 1 game between GM Sasikiran of India and IM Gundavaa was drawn.
Vietnam also smashed Kazakhstan by a similar 3½-½ slate on wins by GMs Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Truong Son and IM Nguyen Duc Hoa. The board 4 game between Vietnam’s GM Dao Thien Hai and IM Kiril Kuderinov was drawn.
In other matches, China-2 blanked Hong Kong 4:0, Iran whitewashed Korea 3½-½, Iraq also crushed rival Yemen 3½-½ and Indonesia blanked Chinese Taipei 4:0.
In the women’s division, China-1 beat India 3½-½ on wins by GM Zhao Xue and WGMs Ju Wenjun and Huang Qian. WGM Mary Ann Gomes saved India from a shutout by holding Ding Yixin to a draw.
China-2 crushed Iran by a similar 3½-½ slate on wins by WGM Tan Zhongyi, Wang Jue and Guo Qi. WIM Sarasadat held IM Wang Yu to a draw to prevent a shutout.
China-3 edged Singapore 2½-1½. Indonesia surprised Kazakhstan 3:1 and Vietnam followed suit with a 3:1 score against Mongolia.
Here are the leaders before the last round: In the Men’s China-1 clinched the gold with 15 match points. India has 13 points for silver, China-2 has 11 points but Vietnam is close behind at 10 points Tied at 9 points each are Iran, Kazakhstan and Iraq. In the Women’s China-1 won the gold with 16 match points. The battle now is for silver between India and China-2, tied for second slot at 12 points each.
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