New Delhi, Oct 22 Despite a spirited performance by the women’s team in the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai, which saw India win its first medal in the event, the team ultimately lost out on the gold medal. Seasoned woman player, Tania Sachdev believes their historic performance in 2024 has ‘settled the score’ of the previous edition.
“It was very difficult in 2022 as even though we had secured a historic bronze for the women’s team, we had not won a medal before, it felt as though the gold was snatched from us. Getting back on the team in 2024, I had made peace with the Chennai Olympiad that maybe that was my only chance, but when I got into the team and had a feeling that there was a reason why this has happened, it’s been a long journey and what had happened in 2022, it was time to settle the score,” Tania told IANS.
In the women's section, the Indian team of D. Harika, R. Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Tania Sachdev and Vantika Agrawal came back strongly from a late defeat to Poland in the eighth round to clinch the title with a victory in the final round over Azerbaijan.
Tania hopes the team’s historic achievement motivates more girls to get into the sport.
“I think the best part of being a sportsperson and an athlete is that you get to dedicate your life to what you love and along the way inspire and let others dream and follow their passion and believe in themselves. I hope that from my city as well many girls come forward and play,” she added.
Tanya, who holds the FIDE titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster, was at the NDTV World Summit 2024 in the capital. The gold medallist, hailing from Delhi, went on to request the government to acknowledge the achievements made by the athletes as it will promote the sporting culture and used Tamil Nadu as an example.
“It’s very difficult as an athlete when you dedicate so much and it goes unrecognised. How can you promote the sporting culture of your state if you can’t celebrate the achievements of your own players? I hope that changes in the future as it's been a difficult journey for me and that is the reason why you get more athletes from a particular state,” she concluded.
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