1. Home
  2. Nakamura Jumps to Joint Lead, Anand Draws at TATA Steel India 2018 Rapid Tournament

Nakamura Jumps to Joint Lead, Anand Draws at TATA Steel India 2018 Rapid Tournament

Agencies
November 11, 2018

Kolkata, Nov 11: Speed chess superstar Hikaru Nakamura of United States stamped his class with three wins on the trot to jump to joint lead with Levon Aronian on the penultimate day of the Tata Steel India 2018 rapid tournament in Kolkata on Saturday.

Reigning world rapid champion Viswanathan Anand drew his sixth straight game of the tournament to stay undefeated and have a mid-table placing at number four with three points.

With three rounds to go on the final day of the rapid meet, Nakamura and Aronian lead the table with 4.5 points apiece out of a maximum six points.

One point adrift is overnight joint leader Pentala Harikrishna who drew American Wesley So with the white pieces of the Berlin defence in round six to slip to third place.

Anand looked promising with the Black pieces but Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan had a strong initiative to force a draw.

Local challenger Surya Shekhar Ganguly had a disappointing day at office as he managed to score only 0.5/3 and went down to Aronian in his last game of the day with the white pieces in the Italian opening.

World Cup champion Aronian looked in some kind of trouble initially but the Armenian star said it was his strategy to deceive Ganguly.

"That's generally my strategy for the game. I tried to create imbalance position just to press Surya on the clock. He is a very solid player. So I thought to create some imbalance and I think I managed to get him excited," Aronian, a winner of the 2017 St Louis rapid and blitz title, said.

"At the very last moment, he could still make a draw but I think he thought it's a good moment to have his first win and he lost his way."

Nakamura, world number two in rapid, started the day on a rousing note when he defeated overnight leader Mamedyarov Shakhriyar.

Playing white, Mamedyarov had an equal position against the speed chess superstar Nakamura but blundered with a Knight move on the 33rd and there was no coming back and he went on to lose.

"He refused to go for a draw and things simply started going my way. Things became smooth (from round five) after I won the game," Nakamura, who outwitted Ganguly and Nihal Sarin in the fifth and sixth rounds, said.

Playing each other for the first time on Indian soil, Anand and Pentala Harikrishna had an interesting draw that saw no player taking extra risks.

14-year-old Nihal Sarin had the spectators on their toes as he was on the verge of beating Mamedyarov who managed to hold on with some tricks and then ended in perpetual checks on the 60th move.

"I'm playing quite well here. It's a very good experience, it's my first super tournament and a nice exposure. But I'm not under any extra pressure," Sarin, who is the world number one in U-14 section, said.

Results (Round Six): Surya Shekhar Ganguly (1) lost to Levon Aronian (Arm, 4.5); Vidit Gujarati (2.5) beat Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3); Pentala Harikrishna (3.5) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 3) drew with Viswanathan Anand (3); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 4.5) beat Nihal Sarin (2).

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: India skipper Virat Kohli on Friday made a heartfelt appeal to the citizens of the country, asking them to follow social distancing as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.
He also went on to say that over the past few days, he has seen some people still taking to the streets, and added that if people still continue to venture out, then they are not being honest with the country.
Kohli released a small video clip on Twitter, making the public appeal and captioned the post as: "Please wake up to the reality and seriousness of the situation and take responsibility. The nation needs our support and honesty"
"Today, I am talking to you as a citizen of the country. Whatever I have seen over the past few days, I have seen people not following the lockdown, it has made me feel that some people are taking the battle against COVID-19 very lightly. I request you all to please follow social distancing, whatever the government is asking you to do, please follow it," Kohli said in the video released on Twitter.
"Think about what can happen to your family members because of your negligence. Our medical experts are fighting this battle day in and day out. If you are still going out to the streets, then I don't think you are being honest to your country," he added.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to impose a 21-day lockdown in the country as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have risen to 724 in India (including 640 active cases, 66 cured or discharged people) and 17 deaths.
The World Health Organisation had termed the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic on March 11. 

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: The Asian Football Confederation has awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup to India for the first time since 1979.

The decision was taken at the AFC Women's Football Committee meeting. In February, the AFC Women's Football Committee had recommended India to be hosts.

In a letter to the All India Football Federation, Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC wrote: "The Committee awarded the hosting rights of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 Finals to the All India Football Federation."

The tournament will likely be held in the second half of the year. In the 1979 edition, India had finished as runners-up.

"I need to thank the Asian Football Confederation for finding us suitable to host the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022," AIFF President, Praful Patel said.

"The tournament will galvanise the aspiring women players and bring in a holistic social revolution as far as women's football in the country is concerned," he added.

The tournament will feature 12 teams, expanded from the previous slot of eight teams.

India qualifies directly as hosts. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The tournament comes as the latest boost to AIFF as India is slated to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup next year.

India had also hosted the AFC U-16 Championships in 2016 and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017.

"The tournament will play a huge role in further popularising women's football in India. The Women’s Asian Cup 2022 comes on the back of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2020, and will help us sustain, and build on the momentum gained," AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das said.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.