Iranian team Rasht was on course to secure the Dubai Cup after an easy outing against the Muscat in the penultimate round of Asian Cities Team Chess Championship at the KIIT University here on Thursday.
The Iranian team did not face any resistance from their Omani rivals to register comfortable 4-0 victory. Host KIIT Bhubaneswar maintained their second spot on the point table after beating Cuttack 3½ - ½.
Rakesh Kumar Jena, Utkal Ranjan Sahoo and Kiran Manisha Mohanty for KIIT produced decisive results for their team while Swayams Mishra forced to split the point with his lower rated rival Rabindra Kumar Ojha.
Dhaka moved to the third spot after beating Malaysian team Penang in a nail biting match that ended in narrowest victory margin. In other matches, Dubai signed peace with Puri while Kolkata overcome Alquds and KISS Bhuaneswar defeated Chinese Taipei.
Nayak Sanjan Kumar and Manindra Karjee for KISS produced resounding victories over their higher rated rivals Wang Ting Hao and liu Yeh Yang, respectively while Tapan Badamundi held Min Po Yen to seal the match.