Young Parimarjan Negi stunned the 2004 World champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov as India outplayed Uzbekistan and reached a historic high in the Chess Olympiad by taking the silver medal ahead of powerhouses like Russia and defending champion Armenia at Tromso, Norway, on Friday.
The golden embroidary was provided by the youngest member of the squad from Odisha — Padmini Rout. The 20-year-old, who was rested for the final round, bagged the gold with a stupendous performance of 7.5 points from eight outings. In fact, her percentage score of 93.8 was the highest among over1700 players from 177
Starting as the 19th seeded team, India tied for the silver with Hungary, Russia and Azerbaijan after China ensured its maiden gold in the Open category.
In the women’s section, where Russia expectedly captured the gold, fifth seed India drew with Romania to settle for the 10th spot. This is also the first time that India finished in the top-10 bracket in both sections of the biennial event.
India’s medal-winning performance bettered its previous best, a sixth-place finish in the 2004 edition in Calvia, Spain. The performance is even more creditable considering the fact that India made it without the services of two of its best players — Viswanathan Anand and P. Hari Krishna.
Source: The Hindu