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| SPORTS TRIBUNE |
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Chess players gossip
too! Academy for athletics Teeing-off |
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Chess players gossip too! Anand, who won six of the nine events he played in 2003, is in line for his third Chess Oscar Award. Anand was the second non-Russian player to win the coveted honour twice (Anand had earlier won the award in 1997 and 1998). Bobby Fischer, the American genius, won it once. Anand’s roll of honour in 2003 included the Corsica Open Rapid Chess for the fourth year running, official World Rapid Chess Championship in Cape d’Agde, Chess Class Winter at Mainz (Germany) for the fourth successive year, second place at the Dortmund Super GM Chess, highest scorer in the German league, SIS-MH Masters at Denmark with an incredible score of 5.5/6 points, Melody Amber Blind and Rapid Chess title for the third time and winner at the 65th Corus Super GM Chess, besides a tied third place in Linares. Anand, who faltered when at the doorstep of the World Championship crown, erased that blot too when he won the FIDE World Championship crown in Teheran. And he is the richest sportsperson of the country. Yet, the great man is modest to the core. The swollen-headed cricketers and sportspersons with bloated egos should take a leaf out of Anand’s book of modesty. Anand is not affected by fame or wealth. He has a great sense of humour, is friendly, amiable and accessible. Anand, who lives in Collano Medano, Spain, was once named among the 40 most important people in Spain! Yet, he projects the image of a simple man on whose handsome shoulders sit fame and success lightly. He says he gets that “great feeling” whenever he returns to his roots in India, and chess, of course, has been a great binding factor, which gives him that “universality”, not many sportspersons in India can boast of. “Chess”, Anand notes, “is great fun” and the players do not just huddle together and play the game, but also move around, interact with other players, and discuss everything under the sun. “Chess players gossip, discuss football, women...the works. We don’t sit there for seven hours (and play chess),” he says. It was diligent and painstaking hard work which took Anand to his present exalted status. His mother Sushila Viswanathan, from whom Anand learned the basic lessons of chess at the young age of six, used to keep a dairy of his matches, which helped him analyse his games, weed out the mistakes, and chart out new strategy. Anand, who turned 34 on December 11, 2003, has played competitive chess for the past 20 years, and has been way ahead of his times and peers. Anand is famous for his lightening speed, and the ability to see and read the game far ahead of his opponents, besides on-board intuition. No wonder, he had earned the sobriquet “Boy Wonder” at the age of 14, and became the youngest Indian national champion at the age of 16. In 1987, Anand became the first Asian to win the World Junior Championship at Baguio City in the Philippines, and also earned the Grandmaster norm the same year. But his achievements were not complete till he won the World Championship crown, on December 24, 2000 at Teheran (Iran). He remained undefeated to become the 15th world chess champion, the first Asian to win the most coveted chess title. Anand enjoys playing different varieties of chess, especially the advanced variety, wherein computers are at hand for calculations and database searches. However, Anand cautions against getting addicted to compute chess, which, he feels, can stifle the human brain’s capacity to innovate. Anand, like any other top sports star, advocates the need to keep oneself physically and mentally fit, with regular exercises and a balanced and healthy diet. “It’s an aspect I give my full attention to,” he notes. “It’s important to be physically fit. It makes a difference in winning,” he asserts. Anand says kids take to chess “pretty quickly. It’s very addictive. There is this element of competitiveness. The bid to outfox your opponent...” His parting shot is to keep the game “interesting, with good opening, interesting moves...” |
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Academy for athletics Academies in India when related to sport have virtually lost their meaning since almost anyone with a bit of money and a background of any one discipline has indulged in this experiment. Quite a few of these academies have flourished but there are many more that appear to exist only in name. But it cannot, however, be denied that these sports academies do serve a purpose, even if some of them only for a short period. And what is more important is that more and more people are willing to entrust their children to these academies. This means that there is an increasing awareness of sport among the masses, even though they may all herald from the upper crust. It is in this context that one welcomes the move by the house of Tatas who have ventured into the field of athletics. The announcement of the plan to set up an athletics academy on the lines of the Tata Football and Tata Archery Academies by the TISCO Managing Director B. Muthuraman recently could not have come at a more appropriate moment. The Tata Athletics Academy, to be set up by the end of this financial year, should be an attractive proposition. Given the efficiency level of the working of this industrial house and the successful turnout particularly of the Tata Football Academy, the athletics academy should go a long way in helping boost the standard of the discipline in India. And again taking the football and archery academies as example the athletics academy will certainly be a boon for talented students irrespective of their background. While welcoming the establishment of an athletics academy in Jamshedpur one is tempted to ask why not more than just one academy? Or if that is not possible then some sort of joint ventures could be entered into with other business houses for branches of the academy in the south, north and west with the Tata’s holding administrative control. A project spread out in such a fashion would not only cover a much wider field it would also ease the pressure on the main academy in Jamshedpur. For the present, however, one should be thankful to the Tatas for taking this pioneering step in setting up an athletics academy. Indian athletics certainly could do with more of such academies in the country. On their part and despite the cloud of drug abuse among athletes hanging over their heads the Amateur Athletics Federation of India appears to have managed to put the sport on the right track. The scheduling of competitions needs to be looked into though. In the absence of major
international competitions last year the athletes could be said to have had an unusually long lay off from the track. Camps do not always solve the problem. Here it must be emphasized again that the athletes should always be competition fit. Performances during coaching camps do not carry the same weight. The establishment of the Tata Academy will certainly contribute towards improvement in the standard of the sport. It must be remembered that the Tatas were among the first of the big business houses that offered employment to athletes. Once given employment and facilities, these athletes responded to the incentive with some very fine performances, particularly in the national open meets. Today some of the biggest names in Indian athletics adorn Tisco and other related establishments. One hopes that the proposed Tata Academy will be the first of the many such establishments of this nature to help guide Indian athletics to new dimensions. |
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Teeing-off What was Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium-Mumbai) to Indian cricket, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club was to Indian golf. While the CCI has been functioning efficiently and effectively even after shifting of international matches to Wankhede Stadium, the RCGC has fallen on bad days. From ‘royal’ it has turned ‘orphanage’. It is no longer ‘Mecca’ of Indian golf. It is a centre for the financial bunglings, politics and corruption. About Rs 60 lakh has been misappropriated from the RCGC. The authorities have not probed the matter properly. The club has reopened after it remained closed for quite sometime. The atmosphere is not what it used to be. Several well-known golfers, including Arjun Atwal, are products of this famous club. It is a club which needs thorough over-hauling. Young blood is needed to run the affairs of the club. Actually some high level probe, maybe by even the CBI, is required to be undertaken as to how Rs 60 lakh disappeared. Maybe, some top officials are involved. The Government of Bengal or Union Ministry of Sports should institute an independent inquiry into this sordid financial scandal. Much before this financial irregularity surfaced, the RCGS course had virtually become an ‘akhara’. Many golfers went on record as saying that ‘wrong priorities and neglect have reduced the RCGC, the world’s second oldest golf club, to the course that professionals, local and outsiders, shudder to play’. Smiriti, known as Simi Mehra, the first Indian woman pro, said: “There was no much sand the last time I played there that it was like walking on a beach”. Simi, one of the longest hitters of the ball, had begun her golfing career on this course which was a joy and pride of not only of Calcuttans but of all golfers worldwide. Any foreign golfer, who visited Kolkata, made it a point to play there. Now it is in a state of total neglect. When Simi said Kolkata would no longer produce another top golfer, her words were misunderstood. Immediately she was banned from playing there by an arrogant bunch of officials of the club. The club management, in its defence for poor maintenance of the course, says that there is a paucity of funds. The membership is said to be low, lowest in the country and even green fee is much lower than other centres. Granting that there is acute paucity of funds, the question is: “How as large as Rs 60 lakh disappeared?” The management owes a detailed explanation to the members and golfing community. Let the RCGC management bear in mind that Calcutta Royal has virtually the same status as that of St Andrews Royal. It should be throbbing in life. It should promote golf. It should return to its original status. It has the traditions. But this much-needed transformation is possible only when young, enterprising and enthusiastic persons are inducted to manage and control the club. Golf has to be run professionally. It cannot be ‘jagir’ of a few influential persons. |
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Dravid, Laxman heroes of Indian win When Rahul Dravid scores a double century, India never lose. At Adelaide history was repeated and the indomitable Dravid along with Laxman chased the mammoth Australian score of 556 in the first innings with a double ton and a century, respectively, and almost achieved the target. In the second innings Ajit Agarkar struck ferociously to wreck the Kangaroos with a six-wicket haul which turned the tables on the formidable opponents. This victory is all the more creditable since the Kangaroos have been tamed on their home soil. Ganguly and his team-mates deserve accolades for this feat. Karnail Singh,
Ranjit Sagar Dam Kudos to Lanka Kudos to Sri Lanka who routed England by an innings and 215 runs in the third and final cricket Test to clinch the series. They accumulated a mammoth 563 for 8 declared in their first innings due to handsome contributions from Samaraweera and Jayawardene who smashed 142 and 134, respectively. Then they bundled out their opponents, who trailed by 363 runs in the first innings, for a paltry 148 in their second innings to post their biggest-ever win against England. It was Muralitharan, the magician, who scalped four victims to hasten the demise of England who, after having managed to draw the first two Tests, fell to the combined might of the Lankan batsmen and bowlers. The ace spinner took his haul to 26 wickets during the series and secured the ‘‘man-of-the-series’’ award. He is fast approaching the 500-wicket mark and is likely to overtake Courtney Walsh in the near future. Sri Lanka owe most of their home victories to him. Tarsem S. Bumrah,
Batala Adelaide win After 22 years when we last won at Melbourne, India bounced back in remarkable fashion in the second Test against Australia at Adelaide. Anil Kumble with his magic spell ran through the tailenders by taking five wickets in the first innings. Ajit Agarkar demolished the Australian batting and bundled them out for 196 runs in the second innings with figures 16.2 - 2 - 41 - 6. Rahul Dravid played a heroic innings and put India on top by registering the highest score by any Indian overseas with his career-best 233 runs. Congratulations to Saurav Ganguly and his team-mates. Vicky Banga,
Mohali Anju George Anju Bobby George was listed to jump in the triple jump in the first Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad in October, but she skipped the event and India were left with no representation in the event. This is an act of cowardice on the part of Anju George and calls for a probe. She achieved a longer distance of 6.74 m on home soil not once but twice, but abroad even after getting advanced training from Mike Powell with the Government of India spending Rs 30 lakh on her training she jumped 6.70 m at the World Athletics Championships as well as in the Monaco meet. Why this difference? Narinder Singh,
Chandigarh HP cricket As an ardent follower of cricket, I am deeply hurt by the mud-slinging match between players and top brass of Himachal cricket. The current episode is a direct fallout of the decision of the bigwigs of Himachal cricket allowing outsiders to play for Himachal. I raised a voice against the move but none stood by me. Now when Rajiv Nayyar has been sidelined, the issue has again been raised. I feel sad for Rajiv Nayyar. It is an unfair decision. But he also should have shown restraint and should have desisted from showing disrespect to senior colleagues. The constitution of the HPCA requires major changes. Suggestions of all sports-loving people in the state should be invited and the matter should be reviewed afresh. Jagjit Parmar,
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Chess is a serious mind game, but it’s great fun if you play it the Viswanathan Anand way! Anand says chess champions are no morons who sit glued to the 64-square board, for hours together, till they outwit their opponents.