“I am thrilled to have won the silver. It means so much to me but it could have been better,” says K Priyanka, who won the silver in the Under-18 category of the recent Commonwealth Chess Championship. The Std XI student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya, RS Puram, values this medal highly as she has been waging a battle with finances to make a leap to the big stage.

The under-18 silver in the championship in Delhi has brought her smiles back. Priyanka participated in both the Open and the Under-18 category. In fact, she was quite comfortable in the Open class, which had a strong field. The 16-year-old made life difficult for higher-rated stars such as Grand Master S Kidambi and WGM Mary Ann Gomes. At one stage, she seemed to be heading for the gold but slipped towards the end. The difference was just half a point but that was enough to keep her from the top spot. Tejaswini Sagar of Ahmedabad won the Gold.

“I felt really bad because I missed a huge opportunity. I hope to turn it around the next time,” she said. It would usually take her a few days to recover from a loss, but this time Priyanka got back on her feet faster. “It hurts but what’s the point in carrying it in your head? It will only weigh on me further.”

Delhi’s Leela Ambience Convention Hotel has been a lucky venue for Priyanka. It was around the same time last year that she pocketed the under-16 title. And Coimbatore rejoiced in her success. The Coimbatore District Chess Association (CDCA) celebrated her achievement in a grand manner, as they had been waiting for two decades for a champion.

Priyanka now wants to realise her big dream of becoming a Grand Master, for which she will have to win at many international tournaments. Not an easy task for this young girl, considering her financial situation. Before the Commonwealth championship, Priyanka had half a dozen international tournaments on her radar but had to miss a few because of lack of money. She worked hard with her current coach GM Vishnu Prasanna from Chennai on her game. While it has been tough to balance between academics and the game, chess is her life, she declares.

Her father was her greatest support but he passed away and that spelt trouble for the family as well as for Priyanka. She had been forging ahead but struggled to come to terms with losing her father. It took her two years to come back to the game and she says the credit for that goes to her mother K Maruthambal, uncle KV Sridhar and many well-wishers.

Priyanka built up her confidence and is now back at her best. The silver has come as a shot in the arm as her next stop is the GM tournament in Abu Dhabi in early August. She is quite positive about her chances and hopes that she will get some financial support to help her realise that dream.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by Rayan Rozario / July 13th, 2018