PM Modi lauds India’s historic double gold triumph at 45th Chess Olympiad, meets winners

Two days after India made history in Budapest by clinching maiden gold medals at the 45th Chess Olympiad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the men's and women's teams at his residence 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, in the national capital New Delhi on Wednesday.

PM Narendra Modi interacted with the chess champions, including R Vaishali, D Harika, Tania Sachdev, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, and Praggnanandhaa.

The players presented the Prime Minister with a chessboard during the interaction, following which Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi played a quick game of chess, which left Modi spellbound.

The Sports Ministry even shared a video of the Indian chess contingent leaving their hotel and heading to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Our proud Indian #Chess teams head to meet our honourable Prime - minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji post their stupendous Gold medal victory at #ChessOlympiad2024 Super proud of you champs! Keep the India's flag flying high on the global stage," SAI wrote on X.

First-ever gold medals:

Earlier on Sunday, the men's team defeated Slovenia and the women's team triumphed over Azerbaijan in the final round, securing their first-ever gold medals at the prestigious event.

In the men's competition, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa secured decisive wins in the 11th and final round. D Gukesh, the star of the tournament, won 10 out of 11 rounds in the Open category, playing a crucial role in India's victory.

The women's team secured their gold by defeating Azerbaijan.

In Budapest, the Indian men's team finished with an impressive 21 out of 22 possible points, conceding only one draw (2-2) against Uzbekistan. However, India defeated the rest of their opponents.

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.

With agency inputs.