Queens of 64 squares

It is celebration time in Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh, particularly on the sports horizon. Significantly, the good tidings come from women achievers. If Saina Nehwal and Sania Mirza are ruling the roost in their respective disciplines and Mithali Raj is captain of the Indian women cricket team, then the latest additions to the folklore are courtesy of chess queens Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika.

Both had tremendous outings in the World Chess Championship that concluded in the Chinese province of Chengdu on Wednesday. Although, the India girls finished fourth in the team event (they entered as wild cards), prestige was salvaged by Harika and Humpy, who won the silver and bronze medals in the individual category.

“I am overwhelmed with the silver. It would have been more memorable had we won a team medal because we were so close to it. The loss of concentration in the team event, not with standing, I think if we look at the overall performance, we were pretty good for one entering with a wild card,” was Harika’s immediate reaction.

Harika was at her best in the final game where she overcame mid-match lapses to beat both time and Lilit Galojan to finish with the silver. The world number two Humpy was good in patches and let go of a fine chance to improve upon a bronze finish.

Taken on the basis of performances, the two did a wonderful job to bring home glory and be ready for the next one. It goes to the credit of Harika that despite not being in the top five, she has been going beyond expectations in spite of the presence of Humpy.