NEW DELHI: Having done some heavy lifting for the Indian women's team at the recently concluded Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, Vantika Agrawal now bears a satisfied look. At the Olympiad, the 21-year-old, a graduate from Delhi's SRCC, often had to face several crunch situations, and she came out trumps on most occasions.
It was Vantika's resilience on the fourth board in multiple matches, which ultimately helped the Indian women's team land a historic gold. Vantika also won the women's individual Board 4 gold after her stellar show. Speaking exclusively with TOI, Vantika, who is India's third-ranked women's player with an ELO rating of 2428, gave an insight into what helped her perform so well in Budapest.
"We were the top seeds, and we were expected to win the gold. There was a lot of pressure. We started well and won all the games till Round Six. In the seventh round, we were up against Georgia. The game versus Bella Khotenashvilli was very crucial for me and I could feel the time pressure. But I didn't crumble and managed to win. Both Vaishali and I won under high pressure situations," Vantika said.
"At this point, we felt we would clinch the title. We were winning all the games. Then we came across Poland and something unfortunate happened, we lost on the top two boards. Divya won on Board 3. I was playing on Board 4 and had to win the match. But as the match progressed, I was under severe time pressure and that meant I had to share the point. I felt really bad after the game. But I had to get that disappointment out of my system because the next match was against USA. We were again in a tough situation. Board 2 and 4 ended in a draw, Vaishali ended up losing. So, I had to win or else the team would have lost the match. Had we lost the match, I don't think we would have won the gold. It was a do or die situation. Although I made it quite complex, I finally won that game, and we managed to draw against USA."
Vantika, who started playing the sport from the age of 7, was "determined" to get the "elusive gold for the country and her teammates".
"At the back of my mind, there was this feeling that things can go wrong, but I had to help my team make that comeback. I couldn't give the excuse that I messed up and that's why India lost. I desperately wanted to win that gold for India," Vantika said.
The vivacious Vantika was effusive in her praise for women's team coach Abhijit Kunte, who she said was the "driving force" of the side. She also said that the women's team drew inspiration from the cracking performance of their male counterparts during the tournament.
