Manika left out of India squad for Asian TT Championships

The USA team fought back brilliantly after being trounced 1-5 in the semi-final first round, clinching the second by a 4-2 scoreline to force a Blitz tie-break. In the tie-break, Jeffrey Xiong, Ray Robson, Irina Krush and Thalia Cervantes Landeiro registered wins to set up a 4.5-1.5 victory for the USA.

P Harikrishna, playing on the top board in place of Viswanathan Anand, went down in 35 moves to Xiong, who had earlier shocked the India skipper in Round 2. B Adhiban had no luck in the last-four as he was beaten by Robson.

R Vaishali could not make much of an impression and went down to Cervantes Landeiro, while Koneru Humpy suffered a defeat at the hands of Krush.