New Delhi [India], September 26 : After winning the Chess Olympiad 2024, Gukesh Dommaraju, a member of India's victorious men's squad, said that it was one of the best performances of his career.
In the recently-concluded Chess Olympiad, India's men's and women's teams made history, securing gold medals for the first time in their respective categories and joining the elite company of countries to have pulled off a double of gold medals in the same edition of the competition.
Earlier on Thursday, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Mansukh Mandaviya, along with Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Khadse, felicitated the Indian chess team in New Delhi.
Speaking to ANI, Gukesh said that he is "super happy" for winning the gold medal at the Chess Olympiad. The 18-year-old opened up on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and said that it was a pleasant experience.
"This was one of the best performances of my career. I am super happy that me and my team were able to get the gold medal. It was a challenging tournament. It (meeting PM Modi) was a pleasant experience. It was very nice of PM Modi to meet us despite his busy schedule. I am really grateful...," Gukesh told ANI.
USA secured the second spot in men's competition and a bronze in women's competition. Uzbekistan won the bronze in men's competition, while Kazakhstan got silver in women's competition.
In the final round of the tournament, India's men's team of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and Pentala Harikrishna beat Slovenia to clinch the gold medal.
It was the wins from D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi that gave India a 2-0 lead and confirmed the gold medal. Later in the final round, Praggnandhaa also won his game, and Vidit ended his bout with a draw. India defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 to seal the gold medal.
Meanwhile, the Indian women's chess team of Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal, and Tania Sachdev also won gold after beating Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5.
Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, and Vantika Agrawal won their respective matches in the final round. While, R Vaishali drew her match against Ulviyya Fataliyeva.
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