CHENNAI: After the Open team secured a historic gold for India at the chess Olympiad in Budapest, the women's team comprising Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev doubled the joy for India with their gold medal performance on Sunday.
Nagpur's Divya, who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster, was one of the vital cogs. Competing in her first Olympiad at the age of 18, Deshmukh won seven out of her 11 fixtures to help India clinch ultimate glory.
"We were ecstatic that the medal was secured for our country," Divya's father, Dr Jitendra Deshmukh, told TNIE from Nagpur.
"She has always represented Maharashtra at the national level, and as Maharashtrians, we are proud of her. However, this win was for the country and it is even more special," he added.
Fascinated by the sport, Divya started playing chess as a kid and Jitendra gives credit to her coach Rahul Joshi for building her interest in the sport.
"We did not plan a lot before starting her with chess. With age, she started picking up chess and as her parents, we kept supporting her. Initially, she trained under Rahul Joshi sir in Nagpur. He is responsible for growing her interest in the sport. He guided her from there. When he told us we should participate in tournaments, we followed it. She started showing promise in those early tournaments, and we started to take her to first state-level tournaments and later the national-level ones. This is how her journey started,"
Despite playing in a high-pressure environment, the International Master rose to the occasion when her team needed the most. Against Armenia, Poland and China, Divya was the only player out of the team of four to win her fixture, to keep India in the hunt for gold. Throughout 11 rounds, she only lost one game.
"Take whatever sport you want, no one is born a champion," Jitendra said. "You have to lose some to achieve the highest honour. The players at that level keep competing at the highest level. Their process is continuously going on and it doesn't stop. Even when she wins we try to keep a lid on it and even when she loses it's not like suddenly she is the worst player. As parents, we try to manage that balance because it's part of the game."
With this success, at the age of 18, has added another feather in her cap. There is more success waiting for her.