Jakhongir Vakhidov and the victorious Uzbekistan chess team after the conclusion of the Olympiad.© Twitter
The 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad came to end in Mamallapuram on Tuesday with the Uzbekistan team winning the gold medal in the open category. Seeded 14th, it did not lose even a single game on way to winning the top prize. Jakhongir Vakhidov from Uzbekistan team told NDTV that they were very satisified with the result. “We are very happy. It was complicated. Till the last moment we dis not know who’s going to win. We had strong opponents like the Indian teams,” he said. Team Armenia took the silver.
Ukraine lifted the gold in the women’s category. Many players have been away of their homes. Anna Ushenina, a player from Ukraine told NDTV: “We just wanted to play and win some medals but you never know. The opponents played well, particularly the Indian team was perfect. My family is out of our city. The war should end.”
It was a double delight for India. Top seeded Indian Women’s team and the 11th seeded Indian Men’s team ‘B’ too won the bronze.
Grandmaster D Gukesh from the Men’s B team said: “This bronze medal win is special as India was hosting the Olympiad.”
Promoted
Tania Sachdev, international master from the women’s team, said: “A lot of effort went in. A gold in the place of bronze would have made us happy. May be this would set the tone for a gold in the next Olympiad.”
Siblings Pregnanandha Ramesh Babu, who defeated Magnus Carlsen recently and his sister Vaishali Ramesh, won individual bronze medals too along with a few others. International Master Vaishali Said: “It’s a special moment for our teams and our family too.”
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