NAGPUR: City masters Raunak Sadhwani and Divya Deshmukh were rewarded for their consistent over the board (OTB) performance as the talented duo will make their debut in the senior India team for the Chess Olympiad.
The All India Chess Federation (AICF) on Monday announced the country's biggest-ever 20-member squad for the 44th edition of the Olympiad, as India gears up to host the tournament in Chennai from July 28 to August 10.
India being the host are entitled to field two teams each - in Open category as well as women's section - for the first time ever. Both young masters from Maharashtra will feature in the India-B team in the Open and Women section.
While WGM Divya played a crucial role while representing India in the junior girls' category at the Olympiad held online in 2020, the 17-year-old will be playing in the senior category for the first time.
Nagpur's first and Maharashtra's youngest Grandmaster (GM) Raunak will make his debut in the senior Indian team.
Both Raunak and Divya have earlier represented India in various age-category tournaments and are excited to make their debut in the senior side.
"It is a proud moment for me to represent India in the Olympiad. I want to thank AICF for giving me a great learning experience. I am super excited to make my debut and looking forward to giving my best. Happy to be part of our strong team with experienced coach RB Ramesh sir," Raunak said
For her first over the board (OTB) Olympiad, Divya too is excited. "I am looking forward to my debut. Though I played in the Olympiad virtually, playing in the OTB format will be a totally different experience," Divya told TOI.
It is learnt that the AICF selection committee picked the Indian teams based on the performance of players in the last three months.
AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said, "Opportunity to field two teams at the Chess Olympiad opens the door for many young Indian talents to showcase their game at the biggest stage, which otherwise would have meant a wait of another couple of years. It's a huge opportunity for them so early in their careers. Teams look strong and have a good mix of experience as well as young talent, and I'm confident that they will make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who decided against playing the Olympiad, will be very much in action as mentor of the Indian teams. "I am playing very few events these days and after playing many Olympiads, I thought it was time for the younger ones to play," Anand said.
INDIAN TEAMS
Open (India A): Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna, Arjun Erigaisi, SL Narayanan, K Sasikiran; Coach: Srinath Narayanan India B: Nihal Sarin, D Gukesh, B Adhiban, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani; Coach: RB Ramesh
Women (India A): Koneru Humpy, D Harika, R Vaishali, Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni; Coach: Abhijit Kunte. India B: Vantika Agarwal, Soumya Swaminathan, Mary Ann Gomes, Padmini Rout, Divya Deshmukh; Coach: Swapnil Dhopade. Head of Delegation: Pravin Thipsay
