India scripted history as both men’s and women’s teams secured their first-ever gold medals at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary on September 22 (Sunday). The men’s team secured their win by defeating Slovenia in the final round. Meanwhile, the women's team bagged a victory over Azerbaijan with a dominant 3.5-0.5 score to seal their gold medal. Moreover, both the men’s and women’s team celebrated the trophies in iconic manner, similar to Indian cricket team’s captain Rohit Sharma at the T20 World Cup 2024 win.
D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa won their respective matches in the 11th and final round to deliver India a victory in the men’s competition. Following the men's team's historic triumph, the women's team—comprising Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdev and Abhijit Kunte—clinched the gold medal, sealing a remarkable double victory for India at the Chess Olympiad.
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Following their victories, both Indian teams gathered on the podium, displaying the Indian tricolour flag. In the joyous moment, D Gukesh and Tania Sachdev recreated Rohit Sharma's iconic walk, inspired by Ric Flair. Carrying their trophies from opposite ends of the podium, they were met with cheers from their teammates. The video of the same has been making rounds on the internet.
Watch the viral video of Team India's celbratory momens here:
Prior to this, the Indian men's team had won two bronze medals in 2014 and 2022, while the women had also claimed bronze in 2022 at the Chennai edition.
The USA bagged the silver medal in the open section with 17 points whereas Uzbekistan settled for the bronze. In the women's section, Kazakhstan won the silver medal with 18 points, with the USA bagging the bronze medal with a total of 17 points.