Finally! India's women waited 20 years for this!

'We were meant for this,' says Tania Sachdev after India women win maiden chess Olympiad crown

D Harika

IMAGE: GM Harika said she finally managed to achieve her dream after 20 years. Photograph: Michał Walusza/FIDE

Senior Indian women's team player Tania Sachdev on Sunday said they were meant for the crown after clinching their maiden gold medal in the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest.

The Indian team, comprising Sachdev, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal, accompanied by coach Abhijit Kunte beat Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5 in the final round to get the top honours.

"I'm so overwhelmed right now. I'm so proud of my team, everything that we've done in the open (category and) in the women now when I look back, I think this is the moment that we were meant for this," Sachdev told chess.com.

The Indian women had clinched bronze medal in the 2022 edition and Vaishali described that experience as a tough one for her side.

"I still remember last year, we lost in the last round. Honestly, I could not sleep last night, thinking about those things, but I'm very happy that we played as a team," Grandmaster Vaishali said.

FIDE International Master and GM Sachdev shared the sentiment and added, "I think last time it didn't happen like Vaishali said it was a very, very difficult. It was hard to celebrate the bronze last time and I'm just so happy right now."

GM Harika said she finally managed to achieve her dream after 20 years.

"I came into Olympiads as a 13-year-old, 20 years back, with a dream to win an Olympiad medal, and finally, it might happen today!" Harika said after winning her game in the final round.

"It's been a rollercoaster ride for me during this tournament and I'm glad (that) in crucial games the girls picked up and finally we all came as a team and we won the last game, so that means a lot."
"We played all the strongest teams here and I think we deserve it," Harika added.

While Divya Deshmukh said the team will head over for a lunch after their win, IM and GM Vantika Agrawal expressed her relief having got over the line.

"I am just feeling so happy and relieved. Last two days, I was so stressed like what's going to happen, but knowing that we have won this match with high score, (I'm) feeling really happy," she said.