Viswanathan Anand on top at the World CandidatesTournament

March 24, 2014

Viswanathan_AnandKhanty Mansiysk (Russia), Mar 24: After round 9 of the FIDE World Candidates Tournament being held in Khanty-Masisysk, Russia, Viswanathan Anand has now a full point lead and can be considered a favourite to qualify for a rematch against MagnusBSE 0.00 % Carlsen for the World Chess Championship title. With five rounds to go, he now leads with 6 points, followed by Levon Aronian with 5 points, who lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

Round 9 was the most decisive so far, with three wins and a draw. Against Topalav, Anand opened white with an Open Sicilian variation. By move 25, Anand had notched up a small advantage, and with accurate play he converted it into a win.

Kramnik, world no 3 and former World Champion, walked into a losing position very early on against the young Karjakin, after inexplicably playing 7..dxc4. Aronian, the Armenian world no 2 and one of the early favourites, found himself in a complicated position that favoured Mamedyarov, who pressed to win the round's match in 44 moves.

Anand may be the current favourite to win the Candidates, but he was certainly the underdog coming in at the start of the tournament, a perception formed largely from his World title defeat against Carlsen in Chennai followed by some tepid tournament play during the first few months of 2014. Anand has answered his critics. He started his campaign very strongly with a 1-0 win against top-seed Aronian. His next win came with Black against Mamedyarov by using a pair of monster Bishops from both flanks.

Anand's rematch with Aronian, this time with Black, proved dramatic. Aronian stunned Anand and the audience with the novelty 3 ..Qb3, an idea that he said "he had discovered during a nap". But, the former champion managed to end the match in a quick draw.

With just five rounds to go, Anand's lead cannot be termed as unassailable. In the last few games of this gruelling tournament, the players' ability to perform long calculations over the board and to stay focused will be critical, and physical fitness and stamina will play a key role. The tantalising prospect of Viswanathan Anand retaining his lead to the end could be one of the most remarkable comebacks in all of chess history.

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News Network
May 14,2020

May 14: Veteran South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis has proposed a two-week isolation period for players before and after the T20 World Cup as a way to stage the event as per schedule later this year.

Like other sports, cricketing action too has come to a complete halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fate of the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October-November is shrouded in uncertainty.

Talking to Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal, du Plessis said travel was going to be an issue despite Australia being less affected by the deadly contagion.

"I am not sure... reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lot of countries and they are talking about December or January. Even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it's a health risk to them," du Plessis said.

"But you can go in before the tournament (for) two weeks isolation and then play the tournament and afterwards two weeks isolation," said the former captain.

Several countries across the globe, including South Africa, Australia and India, have travel restrictions in place and the veteran Proteas batsman joked travelling by boat is not an option.

"But I don't know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can't go there like old days on boats," du Plessis said.

In March, South Africa's ODI series against India was called off after the first match in view of the pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 44 lakh people worldwide while causing close to 3 lakh deaths.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: India captain Virat Kohli has refrained from making any comments on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), without gaining full knowledge on the sensitive subject.

The CAA will grant Indian nationality to people belonging to minority communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12, even if they don't possess any proper document.

In 2016, Kohli had termed demonetisation as the "greatest move in history of Indian politics", which met with sharp criticism from a lot of quarters, with people questioning his knowledge on the subject.

With Guwahati witnessing massive protests against the CAA till some days back, Kohli was asked about it and the Indian skipper weighed his words carefully.

"On the issue, I do not want to be irresponsible and speak on something that has, you know, radical opinions both sides. I need to have total information, total knowledge of what it means and what is going on and then be responsible to give my opinion on it," Kohli said ahead of India's first T20 International against Sri Lanka.

The skipper made it clear that he will not like to get embroiled in a controversy by commenting on a subject that he is not well aware of.

"Because you can say one thing and then someone can say another thing. So, I would not like to get involved in something that I don't have total knowledge of and it's not going to be responsible on my part to comment on it." However Kohli on his part was happy with the security arrangements and felt that the city is "absolutely safe".

"The city is absolutely safe. We didn't see any problems on the roads," Kohli said, giving his thumbs-up for the match at the Barsapara Stadium.

The Assam Cricket Association is using this match as a "curtain-raiser" ahead of their maiden IPL match this season as Rajasthan Royals have adopted this venue.

There has been deployment of Rapid Action Force for the teams and ACA secretary Devajit Saikia has said the spectators will not even be allowed to bring along handkerchiefs and towels on the match-day as the traditional Assamese scarf was used for protests against CAA.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: On the first day of the New Year 2020, Hardik Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share a photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The 26-year-old shared three pictures and a short clip on the social media platform. In one photo, Stankovic can be seen flaunting her ring.

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'.

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