National women’s champion and Grandmaster norm holder Tania Sachdev scored an emphatic victory over Hoang Thi Tao Bram of Vietnam to maintain a clean slate after the second round of the Asian women’s chess championship here.

Playing black, Tania had to work hard for victory against Tram. In the first round, the top-rated Indian in the fray had accounted for Zhang Xiaowen of China.

Woman Grandmaster Nisha Mohota, also playing balck, beat Shadi Paridar of Iran. Tania will next take on Le Thanh Tu while Nisha has a tougher customer in Huang Qian.

At the top of the table, second seed Huang Qian of China accounted for former national champion Swati Ghate to remain among the leaders.

The other Indian to lose in this round was Amrutha Mokal, who could do little against a well-prepared top seed Lufei Ruan of China. Aarthie Ramaswamy held Gu Xiaobing of China to a draw.

Important second-round results (Indians unless specified): Swati Ghate (1) lt to Huang Qian (Chn, 2); Hoang Thi Bao Tram (Vie, 1) lt to Tania Sachdev (2); Nguyen Thi Thanh An (Vie, 2) bt Eesha Karavada (1); Le Kieu Thien Kim (Vie, 1) lt to Ju Wenjun (Chn, 2); Shadi Paridar (Iri, 1) lt to Nisha Mohota (2); Ghader Pour Shayesteh (Iri,1) lt to

Le Thanh Tu (Vie, 2); Lufei Ruan (Chn, 1.5) bt Amrutha Mokal (0.5); Gu Xiaobing (Chn, 1) drew Aarthie Ramaswamy (Ind, 1); Zhang Jilin (Chn, 1.5) bt Bich Ngoc Pham (Vie, 0.5); Atousa Pourkashiyan (Iri, 1.5) bt Navabi Shirin (Iri, 0.5); Wang Xiaohui (Chn, 1) bt Tajik Sareh (Iri, 0); Mouradian Knarik (Lib, 0) lt to Zhang Jing (1).