India take lead in chess despite Humpy's loss

Doha -- Koneru Humpy was stunned by Zhu Chen of Qatar, but the men came to the rescue as India defeated Qatar 2-1 to take sole lead after three rounds in team chess competition of the 15th Asian Games here Friday.

Krishnan Sasikiran put it past Mohammed Al Medaikhi while Pentala Harikrishna beat Mohammed Ali Sayed. Humpy lost but India still maintained its lead with 7.5 points.

After three rounds, India is half a point clear of Vietnam beat Uzbekistan 2-1.

In the third place are China, Indonesia and Qatar with 6.5 points each. Uzbekistan has six points.

China beat Iran 2.5-0.5 to go up to second place alone, while Indonesia blanked Bangladesh 3-0 to move into shared third place.