Koneru, Harika to lead India’s challenge in Asian Games

The All-India Chess Federation (AICF) on Sunday announced the 10-member contingent for the Asian Games, scheduled to commence on September 23 in Hangzhou, China, which will be led by double Asian Games gold medallist Koneru Humpy and bronze medallist Dronavalli Harika. The announcement of the Indian contingent was made during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the AICF held here on Sunday. In the team event, which will be played in a standard format, all renowned Grandmasters (GMs) D. Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, P. Harikrishna, Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa have been selected. On the other hand, Humpy, Harika, R. Vaishali, Vantika Aggarwal, and B. Savitha Shri have been chosen to form the women’s team for the event. Humpy won the gold in women’s individual and mixed team gold medals at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha while Harika secured an individual bronze at the 2010 edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou. In the individual event, to be played in Rapid format, Vidit and Arjun are selected to compete in the men’s category while Humpy and Harika will participate in the women’s event. AICF president Sanjay Kapoor, who headed the general body meeting, said that the Indian chess league might finally be a reality as he announced to invite tenders for the same.