The Indian men’s team, which won a historic bronze, and Padmini Rout, who won the individual women’s gold, in the Chess Olympiad held in Tromso (Norway) recently, were felicitated by the All India Chess Federation here on Thursday.
The team, comprising Grandmasters Parimarjan Negi, S.P. Sethuraman, M.R. Lalith Babu, K. Sasikiran and B. Adhiban and coached by Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh, finished with 17 match points, tied with Hungary, Russia and Azerbaijan and was awarded the bronze for having a superior tie-break score.
Sasikiran and Adhiban, who could not make it to the function, were represented by their parents.
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Like in the previous edition, India bagged two individual board prizes, with Sasikiran winning silver in the Open category apart from Padmini’s gold.
“It was a great experience,” said 20-year-old Padmini.
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“It was my first Olympiad. It had all the top players and was a very strong tournament. The team spirit was good, and the coaches ensured that the players co-ordinated well.”
Lalith Babu said there was not much hope at the start, but towards the end the team gained in confidence. “It was tense, but we drew with defending champion Armenia and beat Germany, a strong side. It was my first Olympiad and I learnt a lot.”
Sound domestic structureSpeaking on the occasion, N. Srinivasan, Managing Director, India Cements Ltd., who was the chief guest, congratulated the All India Chess Federation for the game’s sound domestic structure.
“The strength of the domestic scene is what will produce the champions of today and tomorrow,” he said.
The team was given a cash prize of Rs. three lakh while Padmini took home Rs. 60,000. Coach Ramesh was richer by Rs. 1.5 lakh.