Only two countries before India have won the men's and the women's event together at the Olympiad, chess player Tania Sachdev said on Tuesday, underscoring the significance of the nation's historic feat.
"We had to earn and sweat it out in the last match and the team really delivered on that day," Sachdev said at the NDTV World Summit. "It was a lifetime journey for a lot of us on the team."
She recalled that the India women's team had a fantastic run at the Chennai Olympiad as well in 2022, but it was the last round that took the gold away from them. "These ghosts from the past are always on your mind and it's very important to block out the noise."
-
Indian Markets Turning Corner After Two Tough Years, Says Sandeep Tandon -
NDTV Profit Ignite 2026: Experts See Opportunity In Equities, Stay Bullish For Long-Term -
Buy Right, Sit Tight Does Not Work for Individual Stocks, Says Dinshaw Irani -
'Worst Is Behind': Quant MF Sees Market Bottom, Flags 'Extreme Euphoria' In Midcaps -
India's Mutual Fund Industry Could Become A $1 Trillion Opportunity, Say Fund Managers -
'Foreign Investors Are Baraatis': Raamdeo Agrawal's Take On LTCG Tax -
Stay Invested Through Market Cycles: Raamdeo Agrawal at NDTV Profit Ignite -
Ramesh Damani Remains Bullish On India For Next 20-30 Years, Sees Bargains Amid Market Weakness -
CAS Came After A Long Consultation Process: SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey AT NDTV PROFIT IGNITE -
Aim To Cut FPI Onboarding Time From Mth To Five Days: SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey AT NDTV PROFI
People have been talking about this for generations that chess started in India and then, obviously, there has been this big boom in India and the biggest talent has been coming out from here, Sachdev said at the session titled Checkmate: Dominating The World, where teammate and Olympiad gold medallist Vantika Agrawal also took part.
Having this performance, I think it really established that India is the present and the future of chess.Tania Sachdev
Last month, the country won both the men's and women's gold at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest. The Indian team of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and P Harikrishna clinched the gold in the open section. Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Sachdev won the women's event.
Coach Abhijit Kunte pointed out that the Indian women's team was always very strong, but somehow, they were not winning the medal.
"I took the job of being the coach of the team since '21 and we could start winning the medals. And now I think the team has grown so much that not winning gold itself looks like a failure," he said.
Asked if World Championship challenger Gukesh's win would be a pivotal moment, Sachdev thinks there had been quite a few turning points and it was hard to highlight just one.
"But I think, it's sort of like a river, there are many twists and turns and then, it leads out into this ocean," she said. "India has had many of these pivotal points. Hopefully, the world championship will be the ocean."
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.