CITY’S first Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani andWoman Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh, who are part of the Indian squad for the forthcoming Chess Olympiad, attended the flagging off ceremony of the first-ever torch relay at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the mega event in New Delhi on Sunday. The 44th edition of Chess Olympiad will be held in Mahabalipuram from July 28 to August 10. Torch relay was never a part of the Chess Olympiad but has been instituted by the international chess body FIDE. President Arkady Dvorkovich gave the torch to Prime Minister who handed it over to Indian legend Viswanathan Anand. The torch will travel to 75 cities inside 40 days before reaching Mahabalipuram near Chennai. It is expected to reach Nagpur on July 2. Parents and family members are more than happy to see their wards attend first of its kind show and that too at the hands of the Prime Minister. “It is matter of pride for city teenagers Raunak and Divya (both 16) to be a part of Indian contingent at such a tender age. Being invited to attend the first-ever torch relay for Chess Olympiad is also a huge moment of pride for the duo,” said Raunak’s mother Heena while talking to ‘The Hitavada’ adding, “Chess is coming up as one of the most popular sports in India. The relay that will cover many places will surely boost the sport in the country.” Divya’s mother Namrata termed it as a precious moment. “We all are very happy. Sharing dais with PM is a precious moment,” said Namrata. Divya, who was a national senior woman champion at 16 years of age, was also a member of gold winning Chess Olympiad team in 2020. City’s only other Grandmaster Sankalp Gupta was also on the invitees list but could not attend the function as he’s busy playing tournaments abroad. “Sankalp is out of the country for over a month now. He has been playing international tournaments and is presently in Czech Republic. He also received the invite but could not attend,” his mother Suman told this scribe. “Though Sankalp he is not part of the actual Indian team for the Chess Olympiad, he is very much close to them. He is one of the members of the support team that helps the main squad players practise and prepare better,” Suman said.