New Delhi [India], August 11 (ANI): Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar congratulated all Indian chess players who won medals in team and individual events at the recently-concluded 44th Chess Olympiad 2022.

Indian women's team scripted history at the 44th Chess Olympiad by winning the country's first-ever medal in the women's section while men also claimed a bronze medal in the prestigious event in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. The men's team had won a bronze in the previous Chess Olympiad also.

"Congratulations to the teams on winning the medals in the open and women's section at the ChessOlympiad. Great to see India being bestowed upon the Nona Gaprindashvili Cup. Kudos to all our 7 individual medalists as well as participants from all over the world," tweeted Tendulkar.

India A team, comprising Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni, secured a bronze medal in the women's section after a 1-3 loss to the USA in the final round match.

Humpy and Vaishali drew their games while Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni ended up losing their games.

In the open section, on the other hand, the young India B team, which impressed everyone with their performances throughout the event, handed the country its second bronze medal after thrashing Germany 3-1.

India B had D Gukesh leading from the top and the start, scoring a fantastic 9/11, Nihal Sarin chipped in with a superb 7.5/10, Praggnanandhaa scoring well with 6.5/9 and Raunak Sadhwani also scoring a valuable 5.5/8.

Besides medals in the team events, India won seven medals in the individual category - two gold, one silver and four bronze. Gukesh and Sarin were on the top and second board respectively while Arjun Erigaisi secured a silver medal on the third board. R Praggnanandhaa (third board), R Vaishali (third board), Tania Sachdev (third board) and Divya Deshmukh (reserve board) claimed individual bronze medals.

India also won the prestigious Gaprindashvili Cup. It is given to the nation for their collective performance in both open and women's sections. It was also for the first time India hosted the world's biggest chess tournament, from July 28 to August 10. (ANI)