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world chess
championship
Bigger challenge would be to make a comeback: Sarita
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Gangjee putts well, holds on to slender lead
In a state of limbo, Rupinder’s feat unrewarded
‘Batting is all about being comfortable’
RCF girls lift Surjit hockey title
Pune beat Kolkata
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Clash of the Titans: Part II
Anand will look to beat Carlsen to avenge his last year’s defeat and win the World title sixth time
Sochi (Russia), November 7 The Indian ace, who has silenced his critics with some remarkable performances this year, is still the underdog but his chances seems to have improved greatly as compared to the last time. The match, to be played over 12 games, will have the Classical time control with 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 and then fifteen minutes each with a 30 second increment from move 61 onwards. In case of a tied result after 12-games, four rapid games will be played to determine the winner and if the scores are still tied, the match will be fought over in a series of blitz games till a clear winner emerges. The winner will get 60 per cent from the total prize fund of 1 million Euros (approximately Rs 7.6 crore). For Anand it will be a new challenge under better conditions than the last time when the Indian was struggling before the match took place. By winning the Candidates tournament and earning the right to challenge Carlsen in a match again in March, Anand proved his detractors wrong and followed it up with another tournament victory at Bilbao Final Masters more recently. Carlsen, on the other hand, will have his task cut out and he still starts as the favourite despite some mediocre performances recently. The Norwegian star won the world rapid and blitz earlier this year and is the first player ever to be world champion across all formats. However, apart from winning these titles, Carlsen has finished second in two tournaments this year including the Sinquefield Cup where the world champion ended three points behind the eventual winner Fabiano Caruana. Starting as the defending champion would certainly mean that Carlsen would be carrying a huge burden of expectations this time around. While Carlsen refused to disclose his team in the last match a year before at Chennai, Anand has already indicated that there are some big changes in his team from the last time. Things seem to be favouring Anand, who has been preparing for the match since April. However, one cannot forget the way Carlsen decimated the Indian the last time in a one-sided match. It is advantage Carlsen still, but Anand should get his share of pride this time. — PTI Numbers game
10 The number of rounds Magnus Carlsen took to snatch the world title from Viswanathan Anand last year in Chennai. The Indian lost 6.5-3.5 with two more rounds to go. 1990 The year when two opponents last faced each other in consecutive years for the world title. Those slugging it out then were Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. 120 Minutes is the duration of every game for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves. From then on, there will be an increase of 30 seconds per move. 2014 World Chess Championship schedule |
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Bigger challenge would be to make a comeback: Sarita
New Delhi, November 7 For the Manipur boxer, whose emotional outburst at the podium and refusal to accept the bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games led to her indefinite suspension by the AIBA, the life has virtually come to a standstill — the present unbearable, the future uncertain. The 29-year-old boxer isn't her usual self anymore. The joyous smile across her chubby face is quite evidently missing. Afternoons have become relatively lazy for her in Imphal. Sarita is paying for taking on the world body, AIBA, head on and fighting the injustice meted out to her at the Asiad, where she lost a controversial semifinal bout against South Korea's Ji Na Park on September 30. For those who watched the fight, Sarita was the clear winner, but not for the judges. A boxer's training schedule can be quite demanding — integrating workouts and exercises — but for a change, Sarita isn't breaking sweat like any other day. Her day is spent playing with her 20-month-old son, Tomthil, watching the Indian Super League (ISL) matches and supporting her team, Northeast United FC. Visiting old friends also forms the part of itinerary on weekends. “I am spending a lot of time with Tomthil. He is helping me overcome the weeks of frustration. I missed him a lot during my playing days. Other thn that, I watch ISL matches, the quality of football is good,” she says. Sarita has learnt to take things in her stride. Weeks after her protest, the pugilist is now wearing a mellowed look, waiting in anticipation that AIBA would lift the ban imposed on her at its World Congress on November 12 at Jeju Islands in South Korea. “We sincerely hope that the world body accepts her apology and allows her to participate in future competitions. She is incomplete without boxing. All her life she has dreamt of bringing medals for the country,” said Thoiba Singh, Sarita's husband. Sarita would miss the World Championships for the first time in her career and the pugilist is slowly reconciling to the fact. She would be following the action on TV from November 13 onwards. “I am feeling bad that I would be missing my favourite event. I don't know when I would be able to return to the ring,” she said. Sarita has an impressive record at the World Championships — she won the silver at the 2005 World Championship in Russia and later followed it up with gold at the 2006 World Championships in New Delhi. She clinched the bronze at the 2008 World Championships in China. Does she regret her petulance? “Yes I do. I regret the incident now. I couldn't control my emotions that day. I am trying to forget it. I am preparing myself for bigger challenges ahead. For me, it would be tough to make a comeback. First, my suspension has to go and then begins the quest to get back into the right frame. It's like starting from the scratch,” she signed off.
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Gangjee putts well, holds on to slender lead
New Delhi, November 7 Wade Ormsby of Australia, aiming to become the first player to defend his Panasonic Open title, rolled in five birdies to stay in the hunt following a 68. While many players chose not to use the driver at the tree-lined Delhi course, Gangjee used the big stick to great effect on the course which punishes wayward drives because of thick bushes surrounding the narrow fairways. “The driver is one of my stronger clubs... I know my drive is going to move left to right. I was confident with it and I knew where the ball was going to go,” said Gangjee. “It was tiring, but once the birdies started dropping I was fine. I made six birdies and two bogeys... that's expected. Overall, I hit the ball pretty good and I did get into a silly place on the third hole but I made a long putt for par (30 feet),” the 36-year-old from Kolkata added. Defending champion Ormsby hit the ball a lot better than he did on the first day. “If I can putt better, I will be in a pretty good shape. I am going to work on that and I should be okay for the weekend,” he said. Leaderboard Pos Player Score 1 Rahil Gangjee 134 (68) 2 Wade Ormsy 136 (68) T3 Mithun Perera 137 (67) Terry Pilkadaris 137 (68) Pratap Atwal 137 (68) S Rahman 137 (67) T4 P Pittayarat 138 (68) Rashid Khan 138 (70)
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In a state of limbo, Rupinder’s feat unrewarded
Faridkot, November 7 Though he gave an excellent performance in the Asian Games, where he scored six goals, the maximum for India, Rupinder, a resident of Faridkot, is not among the 28 players who will be honoured by the Punjab government on November 11 for winning medals at the Asiad. This could have been worth Rs 26 lakh to him. The Sports Department of Punjab has omitted Rupinder from the list because he is employed by a bank in Tamil Nadu. It argues that it is for the Tamil Nadu government to honour Rupinder, one of the best drag-flickers in the world, for helping India win the gold. But the Tamil Nadu government matches the Punjab government, because it feels that Rupinder is not Tamil enough. The Tamil Nadu government has dropped Rupinder’s name from the list of the players who are to be honoured for winning medals in the Asian Games. The Tamil Nadu government said that Rupinder is a permanent resident of Punjab. Tejinder Singh Dhaliwal, Director (Sports) in Punjab, said as per the state government policy, only sportspersons who represent Punjab were being honoured and rewarded. Harminder Singh, Rupinder’s father, who runs a small shop in Faridkot, rues that this territorial division between Punjab and Tamil Nadu has deprived his 24-year-old son the honour he deserved. The Tamil Nadu government has announced an award of Rs 25 lakh for PR Sreejesh, the Indian team goalkeeper, who is also an employee with Rupinder in Chennai. Sreejesh, though, belongs to Kerala, and the Kerala government also has given him an award, worth Rs 15 lakh. Rupinder, the six-foot plus player, is the youngest of the family and took up hockey at the age of 11. His father runs a small sports goods shop in Faridkot. The gangling Rupinder made his international debut in May 2010 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. He hit headlines by being the top-scorer in the tournament with a six-goal effort, all coming through penalty corners. Besides the hard work of Rupinder and his coaches, what made him a top player are his mother and father. They did not let their economic hardship come in the way of their son’s dream of achieving a high place in hockey. Till some time back, Rupinder’s mother used to stitch clothes to earn some extra money to support her son’s career. While Rupinder does not comment on being denied the honours by the governments of Punjab and Tamil Nadu, his father said that his son wants to find employment in Punjab to be able to play for his home state. Dhaliwal said that the Punjab government is considering the names of players like Rupinder, who are working in other states, for awards.
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‘Batting is all about being comfortable’
Mumbai, November 7 In his autobiography Playing It My Way, Tendulkar wrote he was asked several times to try a lighter bat but it never worked for him. “I used a pretty heavy bat and I was sometimes encouraged to move to a lighter one. Again, I did try but I never felt comfortable, as my whole bat swing depended on that weight. When I was hitting a drive, I needed the weight to generate the power. It was all to do with the timing,” he explains. The all-time leading scorer in the game also offered an interesting take on how to hold the bat. “To me the bat should be an extension of your arm, and if you’ve reached the stage where it’s become an extension of your arm, why do you need to change? What mattered to me most when I was batting was feeling comfortable.” Tendulkar said one must try to read the bowler’s mind rather than thinking too much about “your own batting”. “I’ve always felt that I’ve batted best when my mind has been at the bowler’s end of the pitch, not at my end. In fact, for both batsmen and bowlers, I’ve always believed that cricket is played best when your mind is at the opposite end and that problems occur when your mind is stuck at your own end.” “As a batsman, if I’m not consciously worrying about my footwork or my backlift or my wristwork, then I know that I’m in the right space, because my mind needs to be at the opposite end, figuring out what the bowler is trying to do. There’s no time to think about both ends at the same time,” he said. — PTI
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RCF girls lift Surjit hockey title
Chandigarh, november 7 Both teams were locked 1-1 at the end of the stipulated time. The winners bagged Rs 1 lakh and a glittering trophy while the runners-up bagged Rs 51,000 and the runners-up trophy. The RCF girls wasted first penalty corner in the 20th minute. Five minutes later, the Haryana girls earned the first penalty corner, their captain Kiran sounded the board with cracking shot (1-0). In the 66th minute, RCF’s Deepika converted the penalty corner from left flank to equalise the score.
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Pune beat Kolkata
However ATK still remained on top with 12 points. The Pune franchise stunned one and all as their East Bengal recruit Dudu repaid his coach's faith with a well directed header in the 31st minute to silence the crowd. Till then, ATK, who were bolstered by the return of mercurial forward Fikru Teferra and manager Antonio Habas off the field, impressed with their passing and had the better share of possession against Pune's defence that looked weak. But the day clearly did not belong to the league leaders who had two howlers early on with their top two striking duo — Fikru and Borja Fernandez — missing one each. Kostas Katsouranis made it 2-0 after the break when the Greek World Cupper used his outstep to curl one away. ATK finally made their presence in the scoresheet in the 84th minute after Pune goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya felled Fikru in an inexplicable manner as the Ethiopian converted from the spot. Pune then got a free-kick at the edge of the box when Josemi pushed Dudu from behind. Davide Colomba converted the shot. — PTI
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Faridkot, November 7
Chandigarh, november 7
Kolkata, november 7
HP batswoman Sushma Verma in Test team