In the eighth round of the Women’s World Team Championship, all the leaders confidently won their matches and kept the same standings.
World Champion Anna Ushenina lost for the first time in the tournament against Irina Krush, but Ukraine was still stronger in the match against the USA. Natalia Zhukova and Kateryna Lahno defeated their opponents, while Mariya Muzychuk made a draw to secure the team’s victory.
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Kazakhstan outplayed France with a 2,5-1,5 score and moved up to the seventh place. Guliskhan Nakhbaeva, who is showing great results on the first board, defeated IM Sophie Milliet. The talented player from Kazakhstan has already secured an IM norm.
China crushed Turkey with a 4-0 score. Two participants of the match – Ju Wenjun (China) and Kubra Ozturk (Turkey) – have also achieved IM norms.
Georgia won against Romania 3-1. Nana Dzagnidze was defeated by Irina Bulmaga, but all other Georgian girls managed to win.
After eight rounds, Ukraine leads two points ahead of China. Russia is still one point behind China.
Ukraine has already secured at least the silver medals, but needs not to lose against Russia to get the overall victory. On the other hand, the Russian team is also fighting for a place on the podium. Only a victory in the match against the Indian team is going to give the Chinese girls a chance to fight for the gold. Georgia needs to outplay Kazakhstan to keep chances for the bronze medals.
The crucial fight for the medals will begin at 11am local time on the 12th of March.
Standings after 8 rounds:
| 1 | UKRAINE | 15 | 22½ |
| 2 | CHINA | 13 | 23 |
| 3 | RUSSIA | 12 | 22 |
| 4 | GEORGIA | 10 | 19 |
| 5 | INDIA | 9 | 16½ |
| 6 | USA | 7 | 13½ |
| 7 | KAZAKHSTAN | 6 | 14 |
| 8 | ROMANIA | 5 | 12½ |
| 9 | FRANCE | 2 | 8½ |
| 10 | TURKEY | 1 | 8½ |
USA will win. Russia will also win.