Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has praised 18-year-old chess grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa for becoming the runners-up in the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023. Neeraj said that he is very proud of Praggnanandhaa as the Indian prodigy played very well against Magnus Carlsen at such a young age.
Also Read: Chess World Cup 2023: Praggnanandhaa loses to Magnus Carlsen in the tiebreaker
Neeraj Chopra is currently competing in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. He qualifies for the javelin throw final with a massive throw of 88.77m. Before going to the javelin throw event, he gave this bite to the reporters. He is also proud for the Chandrayan 3.
Question to Neeraj- do you take inspiration from Chandrayaan Mission?
Neeraj- Yes. All Indians are proud of ISRO. Also very proud of Praggnanandhaa. He played very well against Magnus Carlsen pic.twitter.com/uU4LeCQOoO— jonathan selvaraj (@jon_selvaraj) August 25, 2023
Indian chess sensation R Praggnanandhaa's remarkable journey ended with a final defeat as he finished as the runner-up at the 2023 Chess World Cup in Azerbaijan's Baku, after losing the tiebreaks against Magnus Carlsen. Earlier the two played out draws in the two classical games. The 18-year-old Indian grandmaster lost the match 7-5, but his performance was praised by many as a sign of his immense talent.
Though Praggnanandhaa could not beat Carlsen, he has his chin up as he defeated many high-ranked opponents on his way to the finals, including world no. 2 Hikaru Nakamura and no. 3 Fabiano Caruana. Praggnanandhaa also secured a ticket to the FIDE Candidates tournament that will start from April 2 to 25, 2024, in Toronto, Canada by winning the silver medal.