In the VIII IBCA world Team Championship for The Blind and Visually Impaired being played in Sofia, Bulgaria, low ranked Indian team is winning hearts and are very close to being a surprise semifinalist. They have lost two and won two.
Indians lost Round 4 against top seeds from their group Poland 4-0 as Makwana, Aryan, Soundarya and Kishan lost their matches.
Indians won Round 3 against Spain 3-1. Kishan and Soundarya won while Aryan and Makwana played draws.
Indians won Round 2 against higher seeds Romania 2.5-1.5. Aryan and Kishan won while Soundarya played a draw. Makwana lost.
In the first round, they lost to Ukraine 3-1 in Round 1 but only after 1623 ranked Aryan B Joshi caused an upset against 2121 ranked Vladyslav. Soundarya, Kishan and Makwana lost.
In Round 5, Indians will play Bulgaria.
The tournament is divided in two groups. 8 teams in group A and 8 teams in group B. Top two teams in each section after playing seven rounds of Round Robin will move to the semi-finals. India (Rating 1712) is the last seed in group B and has strong teams like Poland (Rating 2309), Ukraine (Rating 2276), Spain (Rating 2150), Romania (Rating 2001), Slovenia (Rating 1972), Bulgaria (Rating 1965), Italy (Rating 1818).
Prachurya Kumar Pradhan is the Indian coach.
Source of story and image: Chessbase
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