Heroes’ Homecoming: Gukesh, Pragg, Vaishali, Srinath’s touchdown amid fanfare

Chennai: Flashing radiant smiles after their history-making gold at the Olympiad, members of India’s trailblazing chess teams returned to an enthusiastic welcome from fans, officials and their families here on Tuesday.

The quartet of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, R Vaishali, and men’s team captain Srinath Narayanan landed here early this morning. Both the Indian men’s and women’s teams scripted history on Sunday, winning their maiden gold medals in the Chess Olympiad in Hungary.

Their extraordinary victory reinforced India’s position as a new chess powerhouse. And as was expected, there were loud cheers as the four walked out of the airport. Gukesh, who was instrumental in Indian men’s team dominance in the tournament with an unbeaten run, flashed his individual and team gold medals for the cameras.

The 18-year-old is now gearing up for the world championship clash against China’s Ding Liren in November after becoming the youngest ever challenger to the crown by winning the Candidates Tournament in April. “It’s very special, since both the teams won the gold,” Gukesh told PTI Videos.

The brother-sister duo of Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali Narayanan reached in the before Gukesh. All of them were welcomed with garlands, bouquets and traditional stoles as fans scampered to click selfies with them.

“I’m very happy that we have won the Olympiad for the first time, we have only won a bronze till now. And we managed to win in both sections so it’s a very special feeling and a proud moment for us,” Praggnanandhaa said. “We were playing good chess and it showed that we were the best team. The Olympiad is the only tournament we play as a team for the country,” he added. Vaishali, who laid the foundation for the women’s team’s triumph, said missing out on the gold in the last edition in Chennai was painful.

“It’s a dream moment. Last time in the Chennai Olympiad we won bronze, we were so close to winning gold we missed it in the last round and it was very painful. I’m glad that both teams have won gold. It’s a historical moment.

“We won six matches in a row and then lost to Poland, painful defeat but Im happy that we came back. We drew against US next and last two matches we had to win to secure gold. Very happy that we delivered in the crucial moment,” she added.

For men’s captain Narayanan the gold is a culmination of years of hard work. “...it feels great that I was the captain of one of the strongest teams that won the Olympiad in such a dominant fashion. When something spectacular like this happens it’s usually a result of years of effort and that’s what happened here as well,” he said.

“We kept on trying and pushing, we had a number of successful results going on and we came close to the podium several times.”

The 30-year-old Grandmaster added that the new generation of players, including Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and Praggnanandhaa, are world beaters. “We have the Olympiad gold, now we also want the world champion in India, So we will be cheering for Gukesh,” he added.