Leaving out Tania Sachdev proved a costly mistake as India's medal hopes went up in smoke when the women's team lost to second seed China in the 10th and penultimate round of the Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.
Tania was rested for the tie, and Eesha Karavade and S Meenakshi lost on the second and third boards while D Harika and Nisha Mohota managed draws.
The Indian women slipped to joint-seventh as a result and even a last round victory against the United States cannot guarantee a medal now.
Meanwhile, Russia assured themselves the gold medal with a round to spare after defeating Bulgaria 4-0.
This is by far been the best performance by the Russians who won their 10th match on the trot.
Nearest rivals China are four points behind the leaders.
Ukraine, Georgia, Russia two and Poland share the third spot on 15 points each and it's going to be a close contest for the silver and bronze medals.
Results 10th round open: Switzerland (11) lost to India (13) 1-3 (Yannick Pelletier lost to K. Sasikiran; Joseph Gallagher drew with P.Hari Krishna; Oliver Kurmann lost to Surya Shekhar Ganguly; Ralph Buss drew with G. N. Gopal); Ukraine (18) beat France (15) 3.5-0.5; China (14) lost to Russia One (17) 1.5-2.5; USA (14) lost to Israel (16) 1-3; Spain (15) bt Georgia (13) 3-1; Serbia (13) lost to Poland (15) 1-3; Czech Republic (13) lost to Armenia (15) 1.5-2.5; Hungary (15) bt Belarus (13) 3-1; Italy (14) drew with Azerbaijan (14) 2-2; Chile (12) lost to Russia Two (14) 1-3.
Women: India (14) lost to China (16) 1-3 (D. Harika drew with Hou Yifan; Eesha Karavade lost to Ju Wenjun; Subbaraman Meenakshi lost to Zhao Xue; Nisha Mohota drew with Huang Qian); Russia (20) beat Bulgaria (14) 4-0; Georgia (15) drew with Ukraine (15) 2-2; Serbia (13) lost to Russia Two (15) 1-3; Armenia (13) lost to Poland (15) 1-3; Cuba (14) beat Latvia (12) 2.5-1.5; Azerbaijan (14) bt Hungary (12) 3-1; Peru (12) lost to USA (14) 0-4; Greece (13) drew with Russia (13) 2-2; Colombia (12) lost to Vietnam (14) 1.5-2.5.
