Anand at the top of the World

On 30^th May India achieved a new feat in the world of chess. Viswanathan Anand, 42, secured his fifth World Championship title defeating Boris Gelfand of Israel in the ‘toughest’ title clash at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. He made India proud by achieving this glory and challenge Russian monopoly in World Chess. It was high tension drama. Intensity of the battle made everyone forget that both the players had played 12- classical games over the past three weeks.

pic source: e Khabar (picasa)

In 1988 Anand became India's first grandmaster. He achieved the distinction of receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991-92, India's highest sporting honour and the Padma Vibhushan in 2007, the country's second highest civilian award, making him the first sports person in India's history to receive the award. Anand's strong presence in the international arena started in 1995 with his attempt at the world championship crown where he lost to Russian Gary Kasparov 10.5-7.5 in the PCA world championship match.

This is fourth successive world championship victory for Anand. He is the only player in the history of chess to win the world championship in all the formats- knockout, round- robin tournament and individual matches.

Anand will be the world champion till his next title clash, which will make him the world champion for a cumulative nine years now (2000-2002 and 2007- 2014). He pocketed about USD 1.4 million- 55 percent of the total prize fund of USD 2.55 million- while Gelfand got the remaining amount. No doubt it was a great moment for India.

However, for Indians sports means only cricket. Others hardly find support. We forget that there are sports persons across disciplines who made Indian proud. The athletes had an impressive show in the Commonwealth Games. Proper infrastructure can do wonders for sports in the country. The focus must shift beyond cricket. Three weeks long match between Anand and Gelfand hardly got space and time in media because at that time people were glued to the IPL. Fortunately when Anand won the title IPL was just over so he got proper media attention.

It is a pity that achievers like Indian Kabaddi champions, boxers, weight lifters stayed in darkness and were treated badly by the authorities. They were deprived of the honour which they deserved. Hope things will change for good and India will soon be a super power in the sports arena.

About the Author-

Moon Jana is an announcer at All India Radio, Siliguri, West Bengal, India. She did her Masters in Journalism & Mass Communication from Visva-Bharati University.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the Dispassionate Observer.

On 30^th May India achieved a new feat in the world of chess. Viswanathan Anand, 42, secured his fifth World Championship title defeating Boris Gelfand of Israel in the ‘toughest’ title clash at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. He made India proud by achieving this glory and challenge Russian monopoly in World Chess. It was high tension drama. Intensity of the battle made everyone forget that both the players had played 12- classical games over the past three weeks.

In 1988 Anand became India's first grandmaster. He achieved the distinction of receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991-92, India's highest sporting honour and the Padma Vibhushan in 2007, the country's second highest civilian award, making him the first sports person in India's history to receive the award. Anand's strong presence in the international arena started in 1995 with his attempt at the world championship crown where he lost to Russian Gary Kasparov 10.5-7.5 in the PCA world championship match.

This is fourth successive world championship victory for Anand. He is the only player in the history of chess to win the world championship in all the formats- knockout, round- robin tournament and individual matches.

Anand will be the world champion till his next title clash, which will make him the world champion for a cumulative nine years now (2000-2002 and 2007- 2014). He pocketed approximately USD 1.4 million- 55 percent of the total prize fund of USD 2.55 million- while Gelfand got the remaining amount. No doubt it was a great moment for India.

However, for Indians sports means only cricket. Others hardly find support. We forget that there are sports persons across disciplines who made Indian proud. The athletes had an impressive show in the Commonwealth Games. Proper infrastructure can do wonders for sports in the country. The focus must shift beyond cricket. Three weeks long match between Anand and Gelfand hardly got space and time in media because at that time people were glued to the IPL. Fortunately when Anand won the title IPL was just over so he got proper media attention.

It is a pity that achievers like Indian Kabaddi champions, boxers, weight lifters stayed in darkness and were treated badly by the authorities. They were deprived of the honour which they deserved. Hope things will change for good and India will soon be a super power in the sports arena.