India, April 17 -- Vaishali R started the Women's Candidates tournament as the lowest-rated player in the field, and while she was expected to have her moments, no one was expecting her to go all the way. Fortunately, that memo didn't reach the 24-year-old from Chennai. After starting with four draws and a loss, she turned on the afterburners to string together five wins, three draws, and a loss in the next nine games. That incredible run sealed the title for her and showed how far women's chess has come in India. India's women chess pioneers fought a patriarchal system. It started with the Khadilkar sisters - Vasanti, Jayshree, and Rohini - but they were considered oddities in Indian chess. It wasn't until the arrival of Koneru Humpy that the women's game had a proper superstar. It inspired others to get into the game, and now, the others (Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Savitha Shri B among others) are doing their bit for the next generation. The passing of the baton is crucial in sports, for where would we be without our idols? By winning the Candidates and becoming only the second Indian after Humpy (who lost the 2011 match to Hou Yifan in Albania) to challenge for the classical chess world crown, Vaishali is now ready to write her own legend. As she once looked up to Humpy, others will look up to her. Her journey has been riddled with doubt, but to watch her fight through that, in her own way, has been gratifying. She hasn't followed the path of her younger brother, R Praggnanandhaa, who shot through the rankings. Rather, she took the longer, scenic path - and that too has merit. Her achievement once again reiterates that there is no one way to the top. The reigning five-time women's world champion Ju Wenjun might be an even tougher challenge, but as Vaishali has shown us, she creates her own miracles....