Press Trust of India
Chennai, August 31: The fifth-seeded Indian women’s chess team, spearheaded by World No.5 GM Harika Dronavalli, is confident of putting up a good show at the upcoming World Chess Olympiad at the Azerbaijan capital of Baku, the team members said here Wednesday.
With an average ELO rating of 2,410 points, the Indian women’s team is seeded after China (2,528), Russia (2,493), Ukraine (2,485) and Georgia (2,474).
Besides Dronavalli (2,542), the Indian team comprises IM Padmini Rout (2,415), WGM Soumya Swaminathan (2,370), IM Tania Sachdev (2,396) and WIM Pratyusha Bodda (2,329).
“On paper, the medal chances are pretty good for us. All the four teams ranked above us are also good. If we win against any one of the top four teams then the medal chances will definitely improve,” Dronavalli informed.
She however added a rider that the performance of a player depends on her form on a particular day. “If all the five players of the Indian team are in good form then the medal chances are good,” added the Tamil Nadu girl. “The only team to be really cautious about is China. They are a very strong outfit.”
The Indian women’s team came fourth in the 2012 Olympiad but crashed to 10th place in 2014, despite being seeded fifth. However, this time around, the players are confident of putting up a good show as per their seedings.
“The team is a balanced one. We drew with China in the (recently-concluded) Asian Nations Cup. Seriously, we believe we have a medal chance,” IM Vishal Sareen, the team captain, stated.
Meanwhile Padmini stated that to prepare for the event she has been training very hard. “I’ve been doing meditation, yoga and swimming, apart from spending hours on the chess boards,” stated Padmini. “We have to win the first few rounds and see that we do not lose after that,” she added.
Incidentally Padmini won the gold medal for her individual performance at the 2014 Olympiad.
