TURIN: It was yesterday once more for the Indian men. After Uzbekistan, it was the turn of Cuba to hold India 2-2 and leave it even more exasperated in the Chess Olympiad here. With three rounds to go after Thursday's rest, India has too much to catch up with in the medal race.

A tally of 24.5 points from 10 rounds has left India with only an outside chance of making the medal bracket. For the record, Armenia continued to stay ahead with 29 points after stopping China 2.5-1.5. Indian women win

On the brighter side for India, its women's trio of K. Humpy, D. Harika and Swati Ghate played perfectly and thrashed their lowly counterparts from Mongolia for a 3-0 victory. The result put India back in the medal hunt.

India, with 19.5 points, trails Ukraine (23), Russia (22.5), China (20.5) and Georgia (20). Bulgaria and Greece are also joint fifth with India.

Somehow, the emphatic, yet expected, triumph of the women could not do enough to lift the spirits in the Indian camp.

After all, for the first time in several days, Viswanathan Anand, K. Sasikiran, P. Hari Krishna and Surya Shekhar Ganguly appeared well placed from the start.

At one stage, the Indians looked determined to avenge the 10th round loss in the last Olympiad, where the Cubans had dealt a severe blow to their medal chances.

Facing Lazaro Bruzon with black pieces, Anand showed some sense of urgency but failed to foil the drawing intentions of the Cuban, once his country's youngest Grandmaster.

The 42nd move draw only added to the growing desperation in the Indian ranks.

Within minutes, K. Sasikiran shook hands with Leinier Dominguez after wasting one his novelties and having to work for a draw with white pieces in just 26 moves.

Hari sacrificed a pawn early and showed his intentions to play for a win but Jesus Nogueira returned the pawn and proved equal to the task in the 43-move deadlock.

Surya Shekhar Ganguly tossed away a promising position and battled to a 61-move draw against Walter Arencibia.

The results (10th round): Open: Armenia (29) bt China (27) 2.5-1.5; France (26) drew with USA (25.5) 2-2; Ukraine (24.5) lost to Russia (26.5) 1-3; Czech Republic (26.5) bt Slovenia (23.5) 3.5-0.5; Cuba (25) drew with India (24.5) 2-2 (Lazaro Bruzon drew with V. Anand; K. Sasikiran drew with Leinier Dominguez; Jesus Nogueira drew with P. Hari Krishna; Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew with Walter Arencibia) 2-2; Uzbekistan (25) bt Germany (24) 2.5-1.5; Denmark (24.5) bt Moldova (23.5) 2.5-1.5; Croatia (24) drew with Greece (24) 2-2; Sweden (23) lost to Israel (24.5) 1.5-2.5; Georgia (24.5) bt Turkey (22.5) 3-1; Iran (24) bt Colombia (23) 2.5-1.5; Norway (22.5) lost to Azerbaijan (24.5) 1-3; Slovakia (22) lost to Hungary (24.5) 1-3.

Women: Ukraine (23) bt Georgia (20) 2-1; Russia (22.5) bt Bulgaria (19.5) 2-1; Armenia (19) lost to China (20.5) 1-2; France (19) drew with USA (19) 1.5-1.5: Croatia (18.5) drew with Romania (18.5) 1.5-1.5: Greece (19.5) bt Lithuania (17.5) 2.5-0.5; Vietnam (17.5) lost to Hungary (18.5) 1-2; Mongolia (16.5) lost to India (19.5) (Bathuyag Mogontuul lost to K. Humpy; D. Harika bt Dulamsuren Yanjindulam; Zorigt Bayaraa lost to Swati Ghate) 0-3: Slovenia (19) bt Israel (17) 2.5-0.5.

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