Chess Olympiad gold medal win a magical moment for us: Viswanathan Anand
Chennai: The legendary Viswanathan Anand and women's top player Koneru Humpy on Monday termed India's maiden gold medal win in the Chess Olympiad as a "magical moment" which will spur the further growth of the sport in the country.
India and Russia were on Sunday declared joint winners of the 2020 Online Chess Olympiad after the final was marred by server malfunction. Russia were initially declared winners after two Indians -- Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh -- lost in the final after suffering a disconnection with the server.
India lodged a protest against the controversial decision which was reviewed.
For Anand, a five-time world champion and the country's first Grandmaster, it was his first Olympiad medal and he described it as a "magical moment".
"The tournament went like a dream for me. A special gold for me. A special moment for youngsters. Winning the gold is simply a magical moment," Anad told reporters during an online media interaction, along with all the other 11 members of the Indian team.
"I hope this will be the start of many things for India," Anand said of the country's first gold medal in the Chess Olympiad.
Indian men had previously won a bronze in the 2014 edition, which was the country's best finish before this gold.
"The Olympiad win is very special...A very special medal I will add to my collection," he added.
Praising the younger players in the team, he said they played a huge role in the victory, adding it proved the depth of Indian chess.
On the question of lack of government recognition for Indian chess players in the last few years, Anand said, "I hope this result will have a positive impact and they (government) will look at chess they did years ago.
"Several years ago, they had recognised that this is one of the sports where we do incredibly well. I hope we will once again start coming in for Arjuna and Dronacharya awards," he added.
Humpy, the world rapid champion, described the triumph as a golden moment for Indian chess and said great teamwork was key for the win.
"Really a special and golden moment for Indian chess. Talented youngsters like Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, Vantika.. did well. Great teamwork did it for us. We had an advantage of having a mixed team," she said.
She said having Anand in the team was a great motivation for everyone.
On playing online, she said, "I never had an idea of playing online chess. I am comfortable playing over the board. The pandemic has forced us to play online. It is a different experience. Slowly, getting used to it," she added.
Team captain Vidit Gujrathi said the victory was possible due to the great work by all players.
"All the players did a great job which brought us the gold medal. It was a great experience to work with Anand," he said.
Youngsters Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrwal said it was a matter of pride to be part of the Olympiad gold medal winning team and also to play alongside the likes of Anand, Humpy, P Harikrishna and D Harika.
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Jharkhand minority panel forms team to probe into mob lynching case
Jamshedpur, Jan 12: A four-member team headed by Jharkhand State Minority Commission (JSMC) chairman Hedayatullah Khan was formed to probe into the alleged mob lynching of a man in Seraikela-Kharswan district in December last year, officials said on Sunday.
JSMC has taken cognizance of the incident after All India Minority Welfare Front spokesman Sarfraz Hussain, in a letter, demanded a judicial enquiry into the alleged mob lynching of Sheikh Tazuddin in Adityapur.
"We have formed a four-member team headed by Khan on Saturday and decided to investigate the matter," a top functionary of the commission said.
The team will visit Kapali on Monday to meet the deceased's family members to get details of the incident, Khan said.
The JSMC team will also hold a meeting with senior district officials at Kapali Town Council auditorium to seek details of an action taken report in this connection, he said.
Tazuddin was seriously injured after he was allegedly beaten up by a group of unidentified persons in Sapra under the Adityapur Police Station limits on December 8 and later, he succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.
Khan said the JSMC had sought the action taken report from Seraikela-Kharswan district's superintendent of police on December 26 last year but was yet to receive any response.
SP Mukesh Kumar Lunayat had on Wednesday said the sub-divisional police officer (Seraikela) has been entrusted with the investigation and asked to submit a report, which was still underway.
However, four accused had been surrendered before a court here.
The SP had said Tazuddin died in the course of treatment in the hospital about a week after the incident.
