 The proud champion spoke to 'Chathurangam'
correspondent Dhanesh A Shrikhande immediately on annexing her third straight National
title at Raja Hotel, Kalyan on June 20, 2000 Congratulations on winning the
Millennium Women’s National Championship.
Thank you.
On your last round game
against your sister?
In the last round, I played passively and Meenakshi exploited my mistakes correctly. She
played this tournament very well.
How did you prepare for
this tournament? Was there any special preparation?
My preparation was not good. I was busy in some personal work at Madras, so I didn’t
get enough time for the preparation.
Which was your best game
of this tournament?
My game against Safira. I played well against Aarthi and Bhagyashree also.
 How were the general results of the
tournament? Did you expect the same results?
Swati was definitely expected to be in the top four. She didn’t play well even after
recovering from the health problems. There were many upsets in this tournament. Like, I
lost to Pratibha and Anupama lost to Baisakhi.
Does it mean that the
playing standard of all the players including lower seeded players has improved?
Previously this tournament used to be dominated by a few players.
Not exactly like that. But the dominance is no more. Now it is not possible to guess who
will be the top four.
On the tournament
conditions?
Yes, the tournament was well organized. But the hall could have been a bigger one and
there was scope for improvement in the lighting arrangement.
About the Indian team
for the Olympiad?
Yah, the team is good and I hope we will perform well in the forthcoming Olympiad. |
