AHMEDABAD: Gujarat’s Pragnika Vaka was recently crowned world champion in the under-7 girls’ category at the 2025 FIDE World School Championship held in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, from March 20-28. The girl from Surat scored a perfect nine out of nine points and was the only Indian to win the gold medal across all age categories.
Twenty-two students from India participated in the competition, which was held across six categories (U-7, U-9, U-11, U-13, U-15, U-17). Apart from Pragnika’s gold, India won two silver medals — in the U-7 open and U-11 girls’ categories. Bijesh Divi bagged a silver in U-11 girls’ category while Om Esh Gottumukala claimed silver in U-7 open category.
