Page 39 - EW December 2023

Young Achievers

village to enable Aditi to Open (Spain) title in February.
pursue her archery excel- The only child of medical practi-
lence dream. tioners — ENT specialist Dr. Rajani
She didn’t disappoint. Kanth and microbiologist Padma
In quick time, Aditi won — Gukesh is a class X student of the
the district champion- Velammal Vidyalaya, Chennai. “To
ship and qualified to topple my idol-mentor Vishwana-
represent Maharashtra in than Anand as India’s top-ranked
an inter-school tourna- player has been my greatest achieve-
ment in 2017. In her ment so far. I attribute this success
national debut the next to extraordinary school and parental
year, she won a silver support,” he acknowledges.
medal. In the 2021 junior Gukesh took to playing this com-
nationals, she won her plex mind game in school at age six
first individual gold plus under the tutelage of school coach V.
a silver in the senior Bhaskar. Recognising his natural ap-
nationals. In her inter- titude for chess, his parents enrolled
ADITI SWAMI national debut in 2022 at the Asia him in an academy run by Bhaskar’s
senior, Vijayanand, under whom
Cup leg I staged in Phuket, she won
a team silver followed by a team gold he trained till 2017 and achieved
atara (Maharashtra)-based in Iraq and an individual silver in a FIDE rating of 2,300. Later, he
Aditi Swami (17) returned Sharjah. Thus far in her seven-year trained briefly with Grand Masters
Shome to a hero’s welcome career as an archer, Aditi has won 70 Karthikeyan and Vishnu Prasanna.
after winning gold and bronze med- medals in national and international By age seven, he began competing
als in her debut in the compound tournaments. and winning district and state-level
archery team and individual events “My dream is to win a gold medal championships and in 2018, was
at the XIX Asian Games 2023, in the compound archery event of crowned the World Under-12 chess
which concluded in Hangzhou the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The champion, a year after winning the
(China) in early October. Aditi went 2024 Paris Olympics is limited to Under-11 national championship.
well-prepared for Hangzhou. In Au- only recurve events which gives me Currently, Gukesh trains with Pol-
gust, she was the youngest winner five years to train hard,” she says. ish GM Grzegorz Gajewski and has
of an individual gold at the World Go girl! enrolled in the WestBridge Anand
Archery Championships in Berlin. Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) Chess Academy (WACA), run by
The only child of Gopichand Viswanathan Anand. A believer in
Swami, a government school maths the adage that practice makes per-
teacher, and Shaila, a municipal fect, Gukesh’s daily regimen includes
worker, Aditi is disappointed she seven hours of practice.
didn’t bag an individual gold at the D. GUKESH High on confidence and focused
Asian Games. “Although it was a on the path ahead, Gukesh is bullish
proud moment for me to share the hennai’s chess prodigy D. about achieving his next goal. “I am
stage with my senior Jyothi Surekha Gukesh (17) is on a roll this determined to work towards realis-
Vennam, who won gold in the event, Cyear. In September, he ended ing my dream to become the young-
I was disappointed with my perfor- former five-times world champion est world champion,” says this young
mance. But I’m confident that I will Viswanathan Anand’s 36-year reign grandmaster.
do better next time,” says Aditi, a in FIDE live ratings to become Power to your elbow!
class XII student of the Lal Bahadur India’s top-ranked chess player. Runa Mukherjee Parikh (Ahmedabad)
Shastri Junior College, Satara. There’s more.
A Khelo India and Indian Oil The world’s third young-
scholarships awardee, Aditi was est GM (grandmaster) and
introduced to archery at age ten at India’s youngest (12 years,
a multi-sports event she attended 7 months, and 17 days),
with her father at Satara’s Shahu Gukesh brought home two
Stadium. The power of the tradi- silver medals in the chess
tional bow and arrow fascinated (team) category in the
her. Encouraged by her father, she recently concluded Asian
met coach Pravin Sawant who runs Games 2023 in Hangzhou
the Drushti Archery Academy in (China). Earlier in June, he
Satara. “Although Pravin was con- was crowned Junior Speed
cerned about her slender physique, Chess champion; in April,
he was highly impressed with her he won the World Chess Ar-
concentration level,” recalls father mageddon Asia & Oceania
Gopichand, who took a bank loan to tournament in Berlin; and
relocate to Satara from their native also bagged the Menorca

DECEMBER 2023 EDUCATIONWORLD 39