India bounced back after a loss, defeated England in Round 7. (Rafal Oleksiewicz/FIDE)R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh stepped up to deliver once again as defending champions India bounced back from their painful loss to Uzbekistan, edging past England 2.5-1.5 in Round 7 of the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Wednesday.The recovery came on a bittersweet afternoon for Nihal Sarin, who was dealt his second straight defeat.Following his crushing blunder against Nodirbek Yakubboev that cost India the match in Round 6, captain Srinath Narayanan kept his faith in the young Grandmaster from Kerala. Manning Board 3 with the black pieces, Nihal took the fight to Luke McShane for the better part of the contest. But the English veteran proved unyielding. McShane weathered Nihal’s sustained pressure, navigated the chaotic time scramble just before the first time control, and held his nerve in the endgame.Fending off wave after wave of attack, McShane eventually turned the tables to blunt Nihal’s resistance and claim the full point. By then, however, India’s victory had already been sealed.India repeated the exact winning template from their Round 5 triumph over the Netherlands with Pragg striking on the top board and Gukesh supplying the decisive punch from Board 4.ALSO READ | Mastermind and master of minds, the Srinath Narayanan touch in Indian chessPragg opened India’s account in clinical style, taking down the experienced Nikita Vitiugov with the black pieces to log his second win of the tournament. Barely a minute later, Arjun Erigaisi and England’s talisman Michael Adams shook hands for a peaceful 40-move draw on Board 2.Story continues below this adThat set the stage for Gukesh. Facing Daniel Howard Fernandez, the reigning World Champion pounced on a slip on the 40th move amid the time scramble. With 30 additional minutes added to his clock, Gukesh relentlessly tightened the screws, converting the advantage into a full point to lock up the match for India.In the women’s section, Germany was tipped to test the defending champions, but a ruthless 3.5-0.5 sweep by India dismantled any hopes of an upset. India thrashed Germany 3.5-0.5 in Round 7 of women’s section at 2026 Chess Olympiad. (Michal Walusza/FIDE)The dominant performance breathed fresh life into India’s gold-medal defence. With co-leaders China and Kazakhstan sharing points in a drawn tie, India moved within a single match point of the summit, sitting pretty in third place.Koneru Humpy snapped a streak of three consecutive draws to lead from the front, outplaying IM Dinara Wagner on the top board.Story continues below this adMeanwhile, teenage debutant Savitha Shri B continued the tournament of her life. Playing on Board 4, she outclassed FM Lara Schulze to pick up her sixth consecutive win, extending an astonishing 6.0/6 clean sheet in her maiden Olympiad campaign.Board 3 also kept the points flowing. Divya Deshmukh, slotted in for the in-form Vantika Agrawal, made her inclusion count with a comfortable win over Hanna Marie Klek. R Vaishali’s hard-fought draw against German stalwart Elisabeth Paehtz was the only board where the Germans managed to get on the scoresheet.