"Super proud of this incredible team" - Rishabh Pant congratulates Indian contingent on historic double gold in Chess Olympiad 2024

Keeper-batter Rishabh Pant has praised the Indian chess contingent for their historic performance in Chess Olympiad 2024. The open and women's team both clinched their first-ever gold medals on Sunday (September 22) in Budapest, Hungary.

India just needed a draw against Slovenia to clinch a gold medal in the open section. However, they prevailed 3.5-0.5 to make history with a commendable performance. Gukesh Dommaraju, Arjun Erigaisi, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu secured victories, while Vidit Gujrathi played out a draw.

Meanwhile, the women's team had a must-win game against Azerbaijan. They, too, came out with full force to defeat their opponents 3.5-0.5. Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal emerged victorious, while Vaishali Rameshbabu's game ended in a draw.

Pant took to X to lavish praise on the Indian chess contingent for their achievement. He quote-tweeted ChessBase India's post and said:

"Spectacular performance, super proud of this incredible team. 👏 Congratulations guys. 🇮🇳♟️"

Interestingly, Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi secured individual golds in the open section, while Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal achieved the same feat in the women's section.

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Rishabh Pant's century helped India prevail over Bangladesh in 1st Test

Playing his first international red-ball game since December 2022, Rishabh Pant made a terrific comeback in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai. After a 39-run knock in the first innings, Pant converted his start into a big one in the second.

The southpaw slammed 109 off 128 balls and stitched together a 167-run stand with Shubman Gill (119*) to set up a mammoth target of 515 for Bangladesh. The visitors crumbled under pressure in their second innings and eventually lost the game by 280 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin emerged as Player of the Match for his fifer and a century.

In IPL 2024, Rishabh Pant made his competitive comeback to the sport after nearly 16 months since his life-threatening road accident. He captained the Delhi Capitals and also emerged as their finest batter with 446 runs in 13 innings. He subsequently served as India's keeper in their title-winning T20 World Cup run.

Pant will be next seen in action on September 27 as India take on Bangladesh in the second and final Test in Kanpur.