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WATCH: Indian team use Lionel Messi's way to celebrate their double gold medal win at FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024 (Source: X)
The Indian team pulled out Lionel Messi's celebration to celebrate their win in the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024. The Men's team and the Women's team swept gold medals in their respective events and defended the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy which they won in 2024. India scripted history as both men's and women's teams won the gold medal for the first time in the history of the Chess Olympiad.
Apart from the team events, the Indian players won gold medals in the individual events at the Chess Olympiad. Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi won the Board 1 and 3 respectively in the men's events. Likewise, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal won the Board 3 and 4 respectively in the women's events.
Watch the video here -
India team spirit! Celebration time! Olympiad Champions!
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) September 22, 2024
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After their win, the Indian players had a good time and celebrated their win. They pulled off a Lionel Messi by celebrating the way the Argentine star did when he won the FIFA World Cup in 2022. While the rest of the squad stood on the podium and chanted "Come On", Gukesh and Divya got trophies in their hands.
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The rest of the players held on to the Indian flag and chanted "India". The video has now gone viral on X and other social media platforms. The fans recognized that it was Messi's way of celebrating. But they did not mind as far as the players were celebrating the historic moment.
It was a proud moment for Indians as the men's and women's teams did not just defend the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy but did so in a dominant way by winning the gold medals in both the Open Section and the Women's team. Individually, there were 4 gold medalists.
It marked the greatest success of an Indian Chess Olympiad contingent to date. It was the maiden gold medal of both men's and women's teams in the Chess Olympiad. Many players in the current team can go on to challenge the best players in the world and beat them regularly in the days to come.