Adhiban, Sasikiran in second round of World Chess Cup

August 14, 2013

Adhiban_SasikiranTromso (Norway), Aug 14: Former National champions B Adhiban and Krishnan Sasikiran raised their performance when it mattered and clinched their respective tie-break games to enter the second round of the chess World Cup here.

Pitted against a much higher-rated rival, Adhiban displayed top form to beat Evgeny Alekseev of Russia 5-3, winning in the blitz tiebreaker while Sasikiran prevailed over Constantin Lupulescu of Romania 2.5-1.5 cruising past in the second rapid game to reach the round of 64.

It turned out to be a bad day in office for other Indian contender Parimarjan Negi as he let go of his lead once again before going down to Yuri Kryvoruchko of Ukraine in the mini-match.

Parimarjan lost 2-4 but before that he won the first rapid tiebreaker as black. he blew it away with white pieces in the return game.

Adhiban's victory turned out to be the second biggest upset in the World cup so far after Wei Yi of China had beaten Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.

Ranked way below, Adhiban showed a lot of determination and played with his heart out to beat Alekseev, a member of the top 50 club it he world rankings.

It started with the rapid tiebreaker wherein Adhiban drew the first blood but lost the return game. The stage was thus set for two 10-minutes each games that ended in draws.

Alekseev missed out on a clear advantage in the subsequent five-minutes each blitz game and ran out of time and in the second blitz game Adhiban gave no chances and

picked up as many as three pawns before the Russian called it a day.

Sasikiran gave a perfect display of technical chess to outplay Lupulescu.

Playing the white side of a Queen pawn game in the second rapid tiebreaker after drawing the first, Sasikiran weakened the king side with some precise moves in the middle game and launched an attack on the king side to knock down a pawn for no compensation. The rest was child's play for the seasoned Indian.

Negi was unlucky yet again. In the normal games too he had won the first game with black pieces but could not make a draw as white and in the second too it was a similar story.

Winning with black with a fine combination, Negi got a balanced position again as white but missed out in the endgame to let Kryvoruchko level the scores again.

In the next set of tiebreakers, Kryvoruchko won both games. Sasikiran has a tough challenge to tackle in Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the next round of this USD 1.6 million event.

Adhiban will take on Alexander Fier of Brazil in what is expected to be an even contest.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: BJP MP and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said that he will donate his two year's salary to PM-CARES Fund to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic in the country.

"People ask what can their country do for them. The real question is what can you do for your country? I am donating my 2 year's salary to #PMCaresFund. You should come forward too! @narendramodi @JPNadda @BJP4Delhi #IndiaFightsCorona," Gambhir tweeted.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1965 on Thursday after 131 people confirmed positive in the past 12 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 1764 COVID-19 active cases in the country and 50 people have died due to the lethal infection.

Interestingly, on this day in 2011, India lifted its second World Cup title after a drought of 28 years. Gambhir played a crucial role in the final and anchored the run-chase.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of former all-rounder Kapil Dev. 

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News Network
May 28,2020

May 28: Former India captain and Kings XI Punjab head coach Anil Kumble is hopeful of the IPL happening this year and is not averse to the idea of conducting the cash-rich event without spectators due to the COVID-19 threat.

It is not official yet but there is speculation that the BCCI wants to hold the IPL in the October window after the tournament was postponed indefinitely earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes we are hopeful and optimistic that there is still a possibility (to hold IPL this year) if we can cram in the schedule," Kumble was quoted as saying by Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

"If we are going to have a stadium without spectators, then probably have 3 or 4 venues; there's still a possibility, we are all optimistic," said the former spinner, who is also the chairman of ICC's Cricket Committee.

Former India batsman VVS Laxman said the stakeholders can stage the league in cities which have multiple stadia to reduce travelling by players.

"Absolutely (there is chance to hold IPL this year), and also make sure that all the stakeholders have a say," he said.

"...you should identify one venue, which probably has 3 or 4 grounds; if at all you find that kind of a venue because travel is again going to be quite challenging," said the former stylish batsman.

"You don't know who's going to be where at the airports, so that I'm sure the franchises and the BCCI will be looking into."

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