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Sachin Tendulkar congratulates Indian teams for winning gold medals at Chess Olympiad. (Picture Credit: X/@sachin_rt)
India scripted history on Sunday in the Chess Olympiad as its men’s and women’s teams clinched their maiden titles in a rare clean sweep of gold medals after beating their respective opponents in the final round.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday (September 23) to congratulate Indian men’s and women’s teams for winning gold medals at the Chess Olympiad 2024. The Indian men’s team defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5, while their women counterparts also crushed Azerbaijan with an identical margin in the 11th and final round in the 45th edition of the Chess Olympiad that concluded on Sunday in Budapest.
In a tweet that is now going viral on the internet, Tendulkar posted a picture of Indian players and captioned the post, “Two Golds, One Nation! Congratulations to both our men’s and women’s teams for securing the first spot at the #ChessOlympiad2024.”
By securing the No. 1 position in both men’s and women’s events, India joined China and the Soviet Union in an elite list. Before India, only China and the Soviet Union had won both men’s and women’s gold medals in the same edition of the Chess Olympiad.
Indian men had earlier won two bronze medals—in 2014 and 2022—in the tournament, while the women had bagged a bronze in the 2022 edition held in Chennai.
The 18-year-old World Championship challenger D Gukesh and 21-year-old Arjun Erigaise yet again delivered in key games, while 19-year-old R Praggnanandhaa regained form too in the final round to ensure a smooth victory for India in the open section.
On the fourth board, Vidit Gujrathi, 29, played out an inconsequential draw to give the team another resounding victory.
For the women’s team, D Harika, 33, was at her technical best, striking on the top board, and the 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh yet again outclassed her opponent Givhar Beydullayeva to confirm her individual gold medal on the third board.
After the 23-year-old R. Vaishali drew, the Indian team confirmed the victory when Vantika Agrawal, 21, won the last game by turning the tables on Khanim Balajayeva.
Apart from the two gold medals, the Indian players won more yellow metals for best individual performances on their respective boards.
Gukesh and Erigaise won gold medals on the first and third boards in the open section, while Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal won gold for their best performances on boards three and four, respectively, in the women’s section.
