On 2 December, Uzbekistan national team won Junior Under-16 World Chess Olympiad held in Konya, Turkey.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov commented on it.
- Kirsan Nikolayevich, did you expect this result?
- First of all, I want to congratulate the participants, coaches and Uzbekistan Chess Federation with a glorious victory.
It is the first gold medal won at such a tournament in the history of Uzbekistan chess. Thanks to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of Uzbekistan Chess Federation Dmitry Li, chess has now received tremendous support in this country. I want to convey congratulations to Uzbekistan Chess Federation! It is well-deserved result.
Just imagine, young Uzbek chess players beat the national teams of Russia, China, India, Iran, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, and Moldova. That is, eight wins and just one defeat by the US team.
- The Russian team took 13th place with 10 points. Are you disappointed?
- Of course, it's a shame. Perhaps, it is the oversight of the national team’s coaches. I know there were strong players in the team.
But it is no reason to be upset. Let us remember that in the end sports wins.
- Before that, you were saying that the strongest wins...
- And this is true. The strongest, smartest and best trained wins. But in general, of course, sport is the winner.