Odisha and Indian Oil International Master Padmini Rout got eliminated from the first round of the Women`s World Chess Championship, which is being held at Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia from November 2. She went down to IM Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan 1.5-2.5.

The contest went to the tie-breaker as the two regular games ended in draws. But after drawing the first tie-breaker match, Padmini lost the second one as her opponent`s queen proved to be too strong when it gained too many pawns.

Padmini was ranked 50th in the World Championship for which she had qualified from Asia/Oceania Zone. Out of four Indians in the 64-player competition, only Dronavalli Harika (Ranked 12) successfully advanced to the pre-quarterfinals. She defeated Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia) in the second round 2.5-1.5.

Among the other two Indians, second seed Grand Master Koneru Humpy lost to Jolanta Zawadzka (Poland) in the second round 0.5-1.5, while Bhakti Kulkarni went down to Natalija Pogonina (Russia) in the first round 0.5-1.5.
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PHOTO: Padmini Rout in action at the Women World Chess Championship 2018.