New Delhi: Grand Master R Vaishali dedicated her recent Chess Olympiad gold medal to her parents Nagalakshmi and Rameshbabu for the sacrifices they made behind her and brother R Praggnanandhaa.
The last one week has been a sense of jubilance for the Indian chess fraternity as the country bagged double gold medals at the recently concluded Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary. For the first time in the tournament’s history, India won gold medals in Open and Women’s team events.
The success comes after the two teams claimed bronze medals in the previous edition in Chennai in 2022. R Vaishali, who is the third women’s Grand Master from India, won four matches, suffered two losses and was involved in four draws in Budapest.
“It is very special for our family. In the previous Olympiad in Chennai, we won bronze. We were really close to winning gold. We missed out in the last few rounds and both myself and Pragg won bronze medals, we were in the same podium. Now I am very happy we both stood in same podium with gold medals. It’s truly special moment for our family,” Vaishali told Sports Authority of India.
‘She sacrificed so much’: R Vaishali
Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali are the first Indian sibling pair to achieve the Grand Master status after Vaishali earned the Grand Master norms in December last year. Their father Rameshbabu is a branch manager at TNSC bank even though he is disabled (suffered from polio) right from his childhood.
Nagalakshmi, the mother of the siblings, has shouldered the responsibility to take kids to their respective tournaments at the national as well as international level. While recalling the immense contribution of her mother, Vaishali said:
“She’s been an incredible support for us throughout our journey. She’s always been accompanying us to most of the tournaments. It’s not easy for us when we play different events. Sometimes she travels with me and the next day she has to travel with Pragg,” she said.
“This traveling is quite tiring, but she never said anything about it. She sacrificed so much so that we could just focus on our games and make sure everything is fine. Also, thanks to our father he is the one who is managing all the logistics. We are grateful to our parents,” she added.
Grand Master R Vaishali dedicated her recent Chess Olympiad gold medal to her parents Nagalakshmi and Rameshbabu for the sacrifices they made behind her and brother R Praggnanandhaa. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
