Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Chess Olympiad gold-winning Indian teams

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met the Indian men's and women's teams that won historic maiden gold medals in the recently-concluded 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.

The Prime Minister individually spoke to each player, giving his blessings to them. The teams presented him with a chess board and the PM also watched Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi play a blitz game. The PM shared lighter moments with the players and on one occasion, Praggnanandha was seen laughing as he introduced himself and PM Modi commented, according to an audio-less video provided by the authorities.

In a historic triumph, India's men's and women's teams clinched gold medals for the first time in the 45th Chess Olympiad last Sunday.

Led by the stellar performances of D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, the men's team, which also included R. Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna, secured the gold medal after a thrilling final round victory over Slovenia. Undefeated throughout the event, India finished well ahead of top-seeded United States, China and 2022-winner Uzbekistan.

The women's team comprising Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev and led by non-playing captain Abhijit Kunte, also secured the gold medal after beating Azerbaijan. It finished ahead of Kazakhstan and the United States to claim gold.

The men's team, with Srinath Narayanan as the captain, led throughout the tournament, winning 10 matches and drawing just one. Before the last round, they were two points ahead of China.

In the final round, India only needed a draw to clinch the gold medals or for China not to win their match. However, India continued to press for a win and defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5.

The women’s team had a very strong start, leading the event after 7 rounds, having won all their matches. They stumbled in round 8, losing to Poland and then drawing with Team USA, but made a strong finish. Going into the final round, India was tied for first with Kazakhstan, and the race for the medals was down to the wire.

The team of Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev, with Abhijit Kunte as the captain, demonstrated excellent composure and delivered, winning the final match against Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5. At the same time, Kazakhstan only drew with the USA 2-2, making India the sole winner of the event. IANS

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