Bharat Rakshak

Amma brings World Chess to Chennai/India in Nov 2013. Indian newspapers are reporting it based on what JJ said in the Assembly. However FIDE website itself does not have anything regarding it. I remember, JJ fast tracking the JLN stadium next to Madras Central Station. L&T built it in record time, and it was a small but gorgeous stadium. I watched Cameron vs India football in it once.

Anyways, Anand vs Carlsen is going to set the tongues wagging. I hope Anand pulls it off, I am a little doubtful though.

Kashyap achieves career-best ranking of world No. 7, Saina retains No. 2

London Olympics quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap on Thursday jumped a place to achieve his career-best world ranking of 7 in the latest list issued by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Meanwhile, Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has maintained her No. 2 position in the women's singles rankings behind Olympic champion Li Xeurui of China.

Rising India shuttler PV Sindhu has also held on to her 16th place.

FIDE signs a MoU with AICF and TNSCA to conduct the World championship in Chennai. In other news, Carlsen threatens to pull out if the world championship is held in India.

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211 ... 90413.aspx

Indian rookie beats idol Hidayat at his own game

Indian rookie H.S. Prannoy fulfilled a long-cherished dream on Thursday, playing childhood idol Taufik Hidayat and beating him by frequently unleashing effective backhand strokes he modelled on the retiring Indonesian stalwart.

Former world and Olympic champion Hidayat, 31, will hang up is racket in June and he clearly struggled against an Indian 11 years younger as the Indonesian went down 26-24, 21-9 in the round of 16 at the India Open super series tournament.

http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/Pos ... 70513.aspx

I say "fvck you Carlsen"

Heat, crowds, spicy food and lots of noise is what Magnus Carlsen (22) has in store when he travels to India to play a World Championship match against Vishy Anand (43) in November. India is colorful. There are stalls in the streets, beggars and much attention will be paid to him as a foreigner. There will be noise, sound and color. All pretty intense, India expert and associate professor at the University of Oslo and Akershus, Anne Kristine Waldrop, told VG.

Chennai has about 4.5 million inhabitants, making it the sixth most populous city in India. The average temperature is around 30 degrees in November. The city is also situated by the sea, making it moister. I think Chennai will be finished with its rainy season in November, and is moving into a cooler, more comfortable season, says India Expert Waldrop.

In addition to the climate and the culture, the food will also be a new experience for a Norwegian. Waldrop Carlsen warns against eating just anything. "The worst thing that can happen to him is a sick stomach. In South India the food is even spicier than in the north, where it is not uncommon to eat peppers raw, straight from the plant. Many who travel to India experience stomach problems, and it is wise to take medication," she said. She believes Carlsen should go down with a lot of time to acclimatise. "That applies to any athlete who performs in a foreign location," she said.

A World Chess Championship will be held in a big hotel. The four-star hotels in India are among the finest in the world, and have a huge amount of luxury. "Carlsen's team can probably strictly isolate themselves," she says.

What is Carlsen's problem ? The kid is a huge crybaby. He withdraws from the last challenger competition because the format was not to his liking. Now he complains about Chennai and claims to be 'playing under protest'. What a whiny dumbass. Someone should give him bangles to wear during the match.

Just to make his worst fears come true, they should organize the match on the roadside beside the Cooum. Clearly the Norwegians will go out of their way to make India look like hell, so we might as well give them real hell. Even if Anand wins inside an antiseptic airconditioned bubble inside the Park Sheraton, they will still complain.

On the other hand, we have seen a far more classier Anand agreeing to play Topalov at his home ground of Sofia itself, and beats him there, AFTER driving there inside a van for 40 hrs because all the flights were cancelled due to the Iceland volcanic issue. Even before that, there was Kasparov taking on the Soviet chess federation and their darling Karpov, and beating him.

Suraj wrote:What is Carlsen's problem ? The kid is a huge crybaby. He withdraws from the last challenger competition because the format was not to his liking. Now he complains about Chennai and claims to be 'playing under protest'. What a whiny dumbass. Someone should give him bangles to wear during the match.

Just to make his worst fears come true, they should organize the match on the roadside beside the Cooum. Clearly the Norwegians will go out of their way to make India look like hell, so we might as well give them real hell.
<snip>

+108 would luv to see that happen.

On the other hand, we have seen a far more classier Anand agreeing to play Topalov at his home ground of Sofia itself, and beats him there, AFTER driving there inside a van for 40 hrs because all the flights were cancelled due to the Iceland volcanic issue. Even before that, there was Kasparov taking on the Soviet chess federation and their darling Karpov, and beating him.

one of my other heroes similar to gawd from cricketing world.
I learnt chess because of his exploits only. I (unknown rookie) stunned a chess champion in my college at that time which spread like wild fire.

Good interview with Anand on the above subject http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/1818356/r ... than-anand

Hope Anand triumphs.

Indian contingent at French open - Paes, Sania, Bhupati all are partnering others. The last olympics brought out the divisions. Doubles did have Bopanna and Bhupati but they have lost.

K Srikanth wins Thailand Open Grand Prix

Indian badminton welcomed its newest star as a little-known K Srikanth lifted his maiden men's singles title with a stunning straight-game triumph over world number eight and top-seeded local favourite Boonsak Ponsana at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold on Sunday.

The 20-year-old from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh beat Ponsana 21-16, 21-12 in a 34-minute match to script the biggest win of his still nascent career.

Indian Badminton seems to be headed in the right direction .

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 831967.cms

how come he is not in jail?

Asit P wrote:Indian Badminton seems to be headed in the right direction .

Yup PV Sindhu makes it to semis, guaranteed of medal in World Championships
Saina and Kashyap lost in quarters

More importantly, she beat the #2 seed Wang Yihan (who beat Saina in the Olympics) and then the #7 seed Wang Shixian on the way - two of the top three Chinese girls lost to her, with only the Olympic winner Li Xuerui on the other side of the draw left. Saina would have faced Li in the semis had she not lost her quarterfinal to her lower ranked Korean opponent.

Here's Sindhu beating Yihan, whom Saina has never beaten:

Wow!! She used her height and net drop to tire her appone t. By the end of it chinese was almost dead. Doing that to a chinese player is a big deal. I play with a lot of them andthe game is well suited to their natural built, they dont get tired easy. I think the yong age is the key to breaking the chinese stranglehold on the game. Also sindhu's height is great asset but in next 4-5 years it'll become a weak point for her. After the game she looked like she can play another one great stamina and very economical game. Loved it

noodles munchi!

The Chinese have real respect for Gopichand too. They know he was a dangerous dark horse in his playing days, from the fact that he's a former All England champion (and beat a Chinese guy in the final). Now as a coach he's produced two major thorns in their flesh in the form of Saina and now Sindhu. He's our Li Yongbo - the former doubles legend and current head coach of the Chinese womens team.

Saina is not a natural athlete; she wins because she's a fighter. Sindhu on the other hand is a more natural athlete and suited to badminton due to her reach. Keep in mind she's just 18 and this is her first Worlds - she's already done what only Prakash Padukone has done before - win a World's medal.

Elsewhere, the Indian junior women's hockey team won the bronze in the FIH Junior World Cup, behind Netherlands and Argentina. The other two Asian teams, Korea and China, finished #11 and #12.

yihan is clearly a fading a bit...its li xuerui who is their spearhead now. the coronation took place in the OG final.

we need depth. Saina does not have many years left. need another 2 Sindhu's such that even if 2 fall, 1 is always there to do some damage in the semis and finals of any event. plus they can operate as a pack in team events. we need 3 women in the world top 10 to strike some fear. deepika padukone would have been a great player with her height...but she chose to go play with the khans

in doubles the gutta-ponappa team is on last legs. gutta was always overweight and might retire soon. ponappa could do with a faster and lighter partner.

Singha,
Height is usually a big liability in badminton, only very yong players can use it effectively. Foe efficent movement and return angles you want to lower your cg as much as possible with head level to the net. Very hard for a tall person to keep doing that. A sorted person can jump to add height when needed. But if a tall person can move around they are extreamly hard to play againt

Sindhu lost to the Thai girl in the semis. The Thai is also a young phenom like her, and is even more accomplished now. I'm supporting her to beat Li in the final. Seeing all the Chinese girls come a cropper in front of their home crowd would be very nice indeed.

Great show by Sindhu indeed. She should make it into the top 10 in the next ranking update now, and is currently #12. Unlike Saina, she has no mental gremlins against the Chinese - she's beaten all of their top players at least once, while Saina has never managed to beat Yihan Wang, whom Sindhu beat in straight games in the pre-quarters.

A y link for the match? Not on you tube yet

Height is not really a problem during playing career. Yes if you damage your knee or something but otherwise no. Padukone is 6'2" or something IIRC.

You need suppleness to go with the height. And good wrist strength. This dominance of the short SE asian folks is an aberration IMHO. Mostly due to lack of organized taller opposition.

denmark was and still is producing world class players.

among the stonefaced chinese phalanx, I like lin dan...a maverick, wildcatter of some repute.

On April 10, 2008, he created controversy when he struck coach Ji Xinpeng in front of his teammates and reporters during the warm-up tournament ahead of the Thomas Cup. The incident was reportedly triggered by Lin being unhappy with Ji's starting lineup for the tournament.[13]

Good to see the Thai girl win the women's singles gold. Finally breaks the Chinese stranglehold in this event. In the past China would have both finalists and sometimes the two bronze winners too.

Any of you guys following Somdev Devvarman?
He's now ranked 113.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Play ... arman.aspx

Idiotic IOA picked Athletes in Second Asian Youth games instead of representing India are made to say "Independent Olympic Athletes"

http://www.nanjing2013.org/en

What does this mean?

May be we should also start labeling sportsmen/women as such from Cheen and npakistan.

TBC Lalchhanhima wins bronze in youth women's weightlifting but she is "Independent Athlete" from Manipur, India!

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/carls ... s/1157025/

Phuck Mangus Carlsen. And Phuck the desi organiser who stood up to the Times Now question, trying to shield Magnus. WTF? Magnus is an adult, can't he handle the question. WTF does the desi guy have to step up....is India still under British Raj?

india has been thrown out by the IOC and is in negotiations to be admitted back in

Venkat Rahul Regala of India wins Gold in 77 KG weightlifting at 2nd Asian Youth Games in Nanjing, China. He is still Independent Olympic Athlete.

Anjana Dhavalu Thamake wins Gold in Girls 800m Race!

18 Indian athletes have been disqualified for "not proving their age" in this youth championship.

US Open Tennis Qualifiers

Somdev Devvarman (IND) [6]
def.
Robby Ginepri (USA) 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2

SD in 3rd round.

Singha's kid-cousin Somdev Devvarman is through to the US Open Main Draw.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 021629.cms

Defying odds, Indian girls win archery gold.

The Indian women's recurve team of Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Rimil Buriuly on Sunday defeated the formidable South Koreans to clinch the World Cup Stage IV crown in Wroclaw, Poland, on Sunday. It was the Indian women's second consecutive World Cup title, following their success in Medellin (Colombia) last month.

In the Stage 3 final, Deepika and her teammates had upstaged the fancied Chinese to take top honours in Colombia. "We have been here for a week now and it's been great overall."

Bombayla, Deepika and Rimil defeated the Korean team -- comprising Yun Ok-hee, Ki Bo-bae, and Joo Hyun-jung -- 219-215 on Sunday. Denmark claimed the bronze with a 210-194 win over Russia.

While the win was special, the treatment meted out to the archers by the federation is anything but that. Speaking to TOI from Wroclaw, Deepika Kumari revealed that most of the team members were nursing shoulder injuries and despite many requests to the federation for a physio, the officials paid no heed.

"None of us were fit today. Most of us have shoulder injuries. It rained here a couple of days back. Because of the cold, our shoulders were stiff. Since we don't have a physio with us, we had to help each other out. We have been taking care of each others' massages and things like boiling water etc. In case a serious injury takes place, we are ill-equipped. Physios were provided in the camp. But no physio accompanied us here. I don't know how much more vocal can we be to get the basic requirements in place," she said.

Hailing the win as special, Deepika said, "The debacle in the individual category hurt us. My happiness is measured. Individual event is my strength and I did not win that. However, beating Korea is a big deal. Everyone knows they are one of the best. They have the best of shooters and techniques. They always win and that invincibility is very daunting. Most teams are scared of them."

Deepika has her sights set on the World Championships and the Asian Games now. "We go straight to Aurangabad for the World Championship trials. This win gives us the required boost."

Is Devvarman really Singha's cousin ?

http://newindianexpress.com/states/tami ... 49042.ece1

Anand vs Carlsen (Nov '13) - (only) 400 lucky folks who can watch the action from close quarters.

TODAY!!


Lukas Lacko (SVK)
vs.
Somdev Devvarman (IND)

11am NYC Time. 30 mins from now.

Watch the match live

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/console/con ... &promo=mip

Somdev loses first set 4-6.


Isnt anyone here interested in tennis?????????????

yes, but cant watch it during the day...a bit of BRF yes but not a full match.