India asserted its supremacy in chess by fetching three gold medals in rapid mixed team event and rapid individual events at the second Asian Indoor Games here on Saturday.

India team comprising Grandmasters K Sasikiran, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Koneru Humpy and Woman Grandmaster D Harika topped the table with 12 points from six rounds in the team event.

Sasikiran and Harika, who qualified for the men’s and women’s individual rapid event respectively by virtue of their best performance during the team event, also clinched a gold medal each. Sasikiran beat Ali Modhaki from Qatar while Harika defeated Farida from Iran.

The Indian team won all their six round robin ties -- four on Friday and two on the day -- to grab the gold in the mixed competition which features two men and two women in all teams. Vietnam took silver and Iran won bronze while top seeds China failed to finish on  podium. 

Seeded second behind China, the Indian quartet steamrolled lowly Pakistan 4-0 in the first match with all the four winning their matches.

Minor hiccup
India then beat Philippines 3-1 in the second match, but after a minor hiccup with Humpy unexpectedly losing to Perena Catherine. The third match against third seed Vietnam was tougher with Ganguly losing to Nguyen Truong Son and Harika drawing with Nguyen Thi Thanh though India won 2.5-1.5.

But, the upset win over China (2.5-1.5) in the fourth match on Friday took India nearer to gold. The Indians though began on a gloomy note with Sasikiran losing to Bu Xiangzhi but Ganguly restored parity in the second match with a fine win over Wang Ho.

It was still cliffhanger after Humpy drew with Hou Yifan and the tie was settled in the last match in India's favour with Harika beating Ruan Lufei.

India defeated fourth seeds Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5 in the first match of the day with Sasikiran and Humpy scoring victories while Ganguly losing his match and Harika settling for a draw. Indonesia did not create much problem in the second match and India romped home with a 3.5-0.5 win. Ganguly drew with Wahjuwidajat Utut Adianto while all his three compratiots winning their matches.

Indians also had a good day in hockey as the team thrashed Hong Kong 6-0 in their second match.

Diwakar and Hardeep Singh score a brace apiece while Kulwinder and Dinesh Mujtaba also sounded the boards once each in the preliminary six-a-side match. India had lost in the opener against Iran on Friday.