Chess sensation Vantika Agrawal targets Grandmaster title after rising to India No. 3 rank

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Rising Indian chess player Vantika Agrawal continues to take rapid strides in her career as she achieved a career-high rank of India No. 3 in the women's section with a total of 2428 rating points.

The 21-year-old Vantika, who was part of the 2020 Olympiad-winning Indian team, has been impressive in her recent outings as she added 61 points from her last four international tournaments, which also includes becoming women's champion at the Menorca Open in Spain.

"It's amazing feeling to become India No. 3. Honestly, I knew that I will do this but wasn't expecting it to happen this quickly. I managed to increase rankings in the last four tournaments and get this spot," the Noida resident Vantika expressed her joy.

"I will not stop here and keep working harder so that I can get the Grandmaster title and become India No. 1, that's my aim. To achieve that, I will need to play more strong tournaments now," she further added.

Women's Grandmaster Vantika has been a consistent performer on the international circuit. She also became the 11th Indian woman to attain the International Master title last month.

Vantika will look to continue her brilliant show when she plays some top tournaments later in order to prepare for the 2022 Asian Games, to be played in Hangzhou. She is also confident of becoming Grandmaster this year as she requires three GM norms and cross 2500 rating points to achieve that title.