Chinese Woman Grandmaster Hou Yifan recaptured the Women's World Chess Championship title by defeating Ukraine's own Woman Grandmaster Mariya Muzychuk, 6.0 points to 3.0 points, in the final of the said tournament held at the Potostky Palace in Lviv, Ukraine on Monday.

The final match between the two women was played in a nine-game format. The 22-year-old Hou won Games 2, 6, and 9 while Games 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 all ended in stalemates.

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Game 10 was no longer necessary to be played as the Xinghua, Jiangsu, China native is already ahead by three points over the 23-year-old Lviv native, who was the defending Women's World Chess champion after beating Russia's Natalia Pogonina in last year's four-game finale.

Hou had already won the title three times before, in 2010, 2011, and 2013, with Muzychuk and her compatriot Anna Ushenina cutting her reign in 2012 and 2015 respectively. The tournament was not conducted in 2014.

"After this match, like in 10 days, I will have a qualifying tournament in Norway. This is the qualifying for the Stavanger tournament to be held in April," said Hou after the match, as reported by China Daily.

"And also this summer I supposed to graduate from the University and I also need to prepare for my graduation paper. Besides, I am also hoping to participate in some other chess events coming this year," she added.

Meanwhile, a visibly disappointed Muzychuk admitted that she was distracted during the finals and vows to improve in the future.

"The single desire is not enough to win the match as it turned out. During the last 10 months of preparations, I had so many issues which were distracting me and it reflected on me. I will try next time to do improvements," Muzychuk said.

Shanghai Daily noted that "the victory in the match has cemented Hou's position as world number one female chess player in the FIDE ranking".

Hou is set to receive £120,000 as cash prize while Muzychuk earns £80,000 for being the runner-up.

TagsChina sports, China chess, Hou Yifan, Mariya Muzychuk, Women's World Chess Championship, 2016 Women's World Chess Championship, china, Ukraine