R Vaishali wins Sportswoman of the Year (Individual) at Sportstar Aces Awards 2024

Vaishali won the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss without dropping a single game, scoring 8.5 out of 11 to qualify for the Candidates 2024.

R. Vaishali with the Sportswoman of the Year award during the Sportstar ACES Awards 2024 held in Mumbai on Thursday. | Photo Credit:  EMMANUAL YOGINI/The Hindu

Grandmaster R. Vaishali won the Sportstar Aces Award for Sportswoman of the Year (Individual) at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Thursday.

The highlight of Vaishali’s year came at the Asian Games in Hangzhou where she helped the Indian women’s team win the silver medal. “I thank The Hindu group and Sportstar for recognising my efforts. I feel truly honoured. I am speechless,” Vaishali said.  

She won the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss without dropping a single game (8.5/11) and qualified for the Candidates 2024. At the Qatar Masters 2023, she won the women’s prize. Earlier in the year, she beat two 2600-rated Grandmasters, Luis Paulo Supi and Jergus Pechac, finishing 12th in the Tata Steel Challengers 2023.

The strong performances over the year helped Vaishali become the 84th Grandmaster of India. She is only the third Indian woman to complete the Grandmaster norms after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.

The event is presented by Amul, powered by IDFC First Bank in association with Indian Oil. The associate partners are LIC India, State Bank of India, Greyon Cosmetic, India Cements, United India Insurance, NTPC, Ramaiah University. The realty partner is Casagrand, with online grocery partner Big Basket, colour partner Nippon Paint and education partner Christ University. The co-sponsors are Pratiyogita Darpan, SSVM, PSG, Signpost, Digital OOH Partner, NDTV, Broadcast Partner, WordsWork, PR Partner and Dailyhunt, Online Streaming Partner.