Indigo crew shares a sweet note with Praggnanandhaa: ‘You are our pride of nation’

Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa and his mother Nagalakshmi on board an Indigo flight (Image credit: @IndiGo6E/Twitter)

Praggnanandhaa returned to India after the FIDE World Cup in Azerbaijan with another feather in his cap – he reached the final round of the tournament to go up against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. The 18-year-old chess prodigy won the silver medal in the FIDE World Cup and qualified for Candidates 2024 – a remarkable achievement which has earned him plaudits.

Since his return to India, Praggnanandhaa has been gifted an electric car by industrialist Anand Mahindra, met PM Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and received a hero’s welcome at the Chennai airport.

Praggnanandhaa also received a sweet note from the cabin crew and captain of his Indigo flight from Doha to Chennai. The airline shared a photograph of the note, along with a picture of Praggnanandhaa and his mother Nagalakshmi, posing with a flight attendant.

Taking chess to new heights! We were honored to have Indian chess grandmaster Master R Praggnanandhaa on board. Congratulations to the young champion on becoming the first-ever World Cup finalist!#goIndiGo #IndiaByIndiGo pic.twitter.com/RmwcMjmy3H

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) August 31, 2023

It was signed by the captain and crew members of Indigo flight 6E: 1322.

A huge crowd gathered at Chennai airport on Wednesday to welcome Praggnanandhaa, who became the youngest player at 18 to be a World Cup runner-up last week. In the course of his campaign, he also sealed his berth in the eight-player Candidates Tournament, which would determine the challenger to world champion Ding Liren, in the chess' ultimate battle in 2024.

(With inputs from PTI)